Any one who has watched a litter of well-grown cubs at play in a large enclosure, will discover how it is that a fox can so easily beat hounds for pace on very rough hill-ground.
I once spent several days watching and photographing seven young foxes—six dogs and a vixen—which were being reared to maturity in a kennel. The food of these cubs consisted of young rabbits’ carcasses slit open. Two or three cubs would seize a rabbit, and a tug-of-war ensued, generally ending in a free fight. One fox would fly at another, and so quick were their movements that the eye could hardly follow them. The favourite grip in such encounters appeared to be across the loins at the narrow portion of the back, though sometimes a throat hold took its place.
A THREE-WEEKS-OLD FOX CUB.
FOX CUBS, THREE WEEKS OLD.
As each cub secured its portion of food, it darted behind the nearest shelter, or sought a corner of the yard. Those not participating in the struggle crouched down and watched the performance. If one cub approached another in hopes of sharing the feast, the feeding fox would growl furiously in defence of his tit-bit. The vocal sounds of these cubs were a sort of growl and hiss combined, a curious medley of dog and cat noises.
Occasionally one of them would bark, the sound being a sharp wow, wow, wow, the last note being longer drawn than the rest. On many a night in early spring I have heard the same sharp bark far up the fell side, where a dog-fox was calling to his mate.
I have more than once seen pictures of foxes “barking at the moon,” exactly as a dog does on a clear, moonlight night. These pictures always represented the fox with his nose pointed skyward, as a dog does when he howls. I have not seen a wild fox in the act of barking, but the cubs above mentioned invariably held their heads quite low, with nose slightly towards the ground. The only vixen in this litter was much tamer than her brothers, and never took part in any of the scrimmages, at feeding time. One of the dog cubs carried his brush much like a collie, with a decided curl at the tip. Probably in time, however, this curl would straighten out.
As these cubs were to be eventually turned down, they were in no way petted, and never became really tame. The wilder they are before being given their liberty the better, from a hunting point of view.