One of his (the fox’s) favorite tricks is to cross over deep
water on thin ice just strong enough to bear him, knowing that
in all probability the hounds will break through, and perhaps be
swept under the ice if the current is strong enough. More than
one valuable dog has been drowned in this manner, but I have
never known a fox to miscalculate the strength of the ice and
break through himself. If the stream is not wholly frozen over,
he runs along at the very edge of the deep water, where the ice
is thin and treacherous, until he comes to a place where he can
jump across to the thin ice that reaches out from the opposite
bank.--WITMER STONE and WILLIAM EVERETT CRAM,
“American Animals.”
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