(_Canis vulpes_ or _Vulpes alopex_)
The fox enjoys a well-earned reputation for cunning and shrewdness, and
especially for its capacity to adapt itself to changed conditions and
its presence of mind and resourcefulness in emergencies. Nevertheless,
it is possible to deceive even a fox. A well-known American naturalist
relates, for instance, how he attracted a fox to within a few yards of
his own position by imitating the squeaking of a field-mouse. For some
distance he came cautiously skulking between the big tussocks of coarse
grass, but for the last fifty yards he had to traverse open sward. When
he had got half this distance he became suspicious, and began to think
that the motionless, squatting naturalist was not a stump or a rock,
whereupon, it is curious to note, that he at once ran to leeward of the
suspicious object, thus showing that foxes, like many other animals,
trust more to their sense of smell than to their sight.
In spite of the fact that everybody knows a fox by sight, there is
a difference of opinion among naturalists as to whether the fox of
North America is specifically identical with the European animal. The
differences between them are, however, so small and insignificant that
the most sensible course is to regard the fox as a circumpolar species,
with several local races, both in the Old World and in North America.
To attempt anything in the way of description of such a well-known
animal would be altogether superfluous, although it may be well to
mention that the tip of the tail is always white or whitish; and that,
as in most members of the dog family, there is a dark-coloured patch on
the upper surface of the root of the tail, indicating the position of a
gland.
Although nearly related to wolves and jackals, foxes are distinguished
by their slighter make, the relatively shorter limbs and longer body
and tail, as well as by the sharper muzzle, and also by a peculiarity
in the shape of the projecting process of bone which forms part of
the upper border of the socket of the eye. In wolves, jackals, and
dogs this process is convex, whereas in all foxes it is concave; thus
conclusively proving that the fox has nothing to do with the parentage
of the dog.
[Illustration]
The typical fox of northern and central Europe is one of the largest
representatives of the species, and is further characterised by the
deep “foxy” red colour of its coat, and the light colour of the
under-parts. In southern Europe this race is replaced by one of rather
smaller dimensions (_Canis vulpes melanogaster_) and less brilliant
red in colour, with the under-parts dark, and sometimes a cross-shaped
dark mark on the shoulders. Nearly allied is the Himalayan fox (_C.
v. montanus_); but in central Asia and some of the neighbouring
countries we find a larger and paler race known as _C. v. flavescens_.
No representative of the species is found to the south of the Himalaya
or in Burma and the Malay countries; but the central Asian, or a nearly
allied, race probably extends right across Siberia and Manchuria.
In North America the fox reappears, and ranges as far south as Georgia;
the common and most widely distributed race being known as _C. v.
fulvus_, while separate names have been given to the races respectively
inhabiting Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The so-called “cross fox” of
America is merely one with a blackish stripe down the back and another
across the shoulders, as in many Himalayan and Afghan foxes; while
the “silver fox” is a grey, and the “black fox” a black phase of the
ordinary American race.
Skins of black foxes are of enormous value, really fine specimens
selling for as much as £200 each; they are imitated by dyeing the skins
of the white Arctic fox (_C. lagopus_) and leaving the end of the tail
and the tips of the longer hairs white. Although most of these black
skins come from America, black foxes apparently also occur in Siberia.
No matter how far north its range, the fox never turns white in
winter. Another curious fact about this animal is that the skin, when
viewed under the microscope, exhibits a structure indicating that the
ancestors of the species were apparently clothed with scales instead of
hair; thus affording important testimony to the view that mammals are
the direct descendants of reptiles.
Unlike jackals and wolves, the fox is a more or less solitary animal,
living for the greater part of the year alone, or in company with
the vixen, as the female is called; the latter name being merely the
west country pronunciation of _fixen_, which may be the Saxon plural
of _fix_. Chiefly nocturnal in their habits, foxes may take up their
residence either in holes, or “earths,” dug by themselves, in ravines
or clefts among rocks, or amid coarse grass and bushes. The young,
usually from five to seven in number, have slaty grey coats quite
different from their parents. Although foxes are sad enemies to the
poultry-yard and the game-covert, it should be remembered that they are
death on field-mice and rats.