The domesticated silver fox (1917) The domesticated silver fox domesticatedsilv7951dear Year: 1917 4 farmers' BULLETIN 795. The first American fur animal to be domesticated permanently was the silver or silver-gray fox (fig. 1), a rare and beautiful color phase of the common red fox1 found in nearly all of the United States and Canada. The relation of silver foxes to ordinary red foxes is the same as that of black squirrels to gray squirrels, or black muskrats to brown muskrats. That is to say, the black individuals are of the same species as those having the regular color. In a litter of fo
The domesticated silver fox (1917) The domesticated silver fox domesticatedsilv7951dear Year: 1917 4 farmers' BULLETIN 795. The first American fur animal to be domesticated permanently was the silver or silver-gray fox (fig. 1), a rare and beautiful color phase of the common red fox1 found in nearly all of the United States and Canada. The relation of silver foxes to ordinary red foxes is the same as that of black squirrels to gray squirrels, or black muskrats to brown muskrats. That is to say, the black individuals are of the same species as those having the regular color. In a litter of fox cubs born of red parents, perhaps there may be one silver. On the other hand, one or more of the cubs of a wild silver vixen are quite certain to be B629M Fig. 1.—A silver fox bred in captivity. Note the tip of the tail, which is white in all phases of the ordinary red fox. red. Fortunately, experience has shown that when silvers are bred in captivity the tendency to produce reds can be overcome by selective breeding. The average red fox has the throat, breast, and belly white, and the sides and upperparts mainly red, this color being pure across the shoulders and on the nape of the neck but sparsely mixed with white on the back and sides. Close inspection discloses that the red and white are only on the surface, and that the fur beneath is almost black on the upperparts and dusky gray on throat and belly. It shows also that the fine hair or wool constituting the underfur is tipped with red and that, as a rule, the coarse guard hairs have a 1 Genus Vulpes,
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