Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/208

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168
THE BABYHOOD OF WILD BEASTS

use of their helpless little paws. Then she leads them into the cool grass and teaches them to pounce onto fat grasshoppers and juicy crickets. The wood mice, moles and shrews are the first real game the little fellows try to stalk. It is not long before they can leap onto a Mollie Cottontail rabbit and dispatch her.

Little foxes are playful and good natured, and take kindly to other animals, unless excited by their parents' aversion to the creature. They are very keen and learn the ethics of animal existence and the laws of the wild very quickly. Our Chinese cook caught a baby fox in a kind of trap known as the figure 4. The fox was not bruised in this trap—was taken home and treated with kindness. He showed affection for humans, especially for the Chinaman who fed and cared for him. He became as devoted as a brother and showed no inclination to escape. However, I expect, when he matures, he will become lonely for his own kind, and long to join them.

I know a baby fox who is the pet of a friend of mine. This little fox's name is Reynard, and he is the favoured member of the family. He