Despite their furious battles, cubs can stand a tremendous lot of knocking about without sustaining any real hurt, and doubtless these struggles fit them for making their way in the world later in life.
Roughly speaking, the vixen lays down her cubs some time in March, though on the fells litters are apt to be later than in the low country. With a family of cubs to feed, it is not surprising that the fell fox now and then takes to lamb-killing. If rabbits are not fairly handy to the earth, and lambs are, the vixen will often pick up the latter when new-born, and carry them off. Sometimes she will kill more than she really needs, and then the farmer sends for the hounds, and a May fox dies.
If the vixen thinks that the whereabouts of the breeding earth has been discovered, she will promptly remove her offspring elsewhere, often to a much stronger and safer retreat.
A DOG-FOX CUB, TEN DAYS OLD.
MISS HILDA CHAPMAN AND HER PET FOX, “JACKY.”
It is not surprising that foxes, being so remarkably active, are good climbers. I once paid a visit to four well-grown cubs in a roomy dog kennel, which was divided down the centre by iron railings. The lower half of this partition was covered with wire netting, and the cubs when at play used to fly up the wire and squeeze themselves through the bars above. They would repeat the exercise again and again, appearing to thoroughly enjoy it.
Even in the low country it is no uncommon occurrence to find foxes lying up in pollard willows or other situations well above ground level. On the fells, foxes climb like cats, and can make their way anywhere amongst the crags. Foxes have been known to climb trees when hard pressed by hounds, but the little grey fox of America often does so in pursuit of birds and fruit, it being as much a fruit-eater as a consumer of flesh.
The grey fox is not a sporting beast; it prefers doubling and twisting to running straight, and soon goes to ground. It is more useful, however, than the Indian fox, which leaves no scent at all, and only provides sport when coursed.