In Berkshire fields . as carrying one baby withher, all she could hope to save. Two other men fromthe same camp found a foxs hole in a fallen, hollowtree and started to chop the family out. In thiscase the mother drove all the family—five again—up the center of a hollow branch ahead of her. Thechoppers came upon her from behind. They tiedher hind legs together and then tied this thong to apole, thus pulling her out from a safe distance, forshe was fighting mad, and a foxs bite is not a pleas-ant thing. In front of her were the pups, the fore-most one so jammed into the rotten wood near theend
In Berkshire fields . as carrying one baby withher, all she could hope to save. Two other men fromthe same camp found a foxs hole in a fallen, hollowtree and started to chop the family out. In thiscase the mother drove all the family—five again—up the center of a hollow branch ahead of her. Thechoppers came upon her from behind. They tiedher hind legs together and then tied this thong to apole, thus pulling her out from a safe distance, forshe was fighting mad, and a foxs bite is not a pleas-ant thing. In front of her were the pups, the fore-most one so jammed into the rotten wood near theend of the branch that he could hardly litter was more than a month old, and everyone of them lived in captivity on the near-by foxfarm. It is in winter, of course, that you can mostreadily track a fox and find his hole. Unlike theaverage dog, he leaves but two prints in the snow 240 IN BERKSHIRE FIELDS instead of four, unless he is jumping, and his pawsare smaller in proportion to the length of his A midnight vigil When he is comparatively undisturbed, he will oftenmake a regular path to his den. For three or four FOXES AND OTHER NEIGHBORS 241 years now a fox has burrowed on a certain steep androcky hillside near our village, always close to thetop, and as soon as the deep snow comes he estab-lishes a regular trail up to his dwelling. Out in thefields below the hillside forest his tracks may beseen coming from all directions, but once in thewoods they speedily converge into a path abouteight inches wide, trodden down six or seven inchesinto the snow, like a tiny snow ditch. This pathleads up the rough slope in a winding direction,taking frequent cover under the tangle of laurel-bushes and passing under the south side of almostevery overhanging boulder. Apparently this is be-cause the snow often melts down to bare groundunder such sheltering rocks, and the partridges andpheasants huddle there for food or shelter. Nodoubt the fox comes sneaking down his path,
Size: 1380px × 1810px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
