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M A M M A L S OF N O R T H E R N C A N A D A 193
manner of domestic dogs. At Dunvegan, on Peace River, I have
repeatedly observed this. The males fight violently for the possession
of the females; many are maimed and some killed. A number
of males thus in all likelihood cohabit with the same female, which
gives rise to the varieties of colour in a litter.
Instances are reported as having occurred in which all the
varieties were taken in one den, but of this I am rather doubtful.
It is very difficult to tell the future colour of cub foxes; the red
appear to be cross, and the cross to be silver, which may have
caused an error, though I write under correction. I have seen
many Indians even mistaken in this. They have brought me live
cub foxes for silver, which on growing up proved to be cross. My
own theory is that the silver fox is the offspring of two silver
parents; the cross, of a silver and red; the red, of two reds; and
the different shades being caused by fresh inter- breeds. Thus two
negroes will have neither white nor mulatto children, nor will two
whites have black or mulatto offspring. I do not know whether I
have explained my ideas on the subject clearly or not. They are
the result of my experience on a subject to which I have given no
small attention. I have often robbed fox dens, and have also bred
the animals, and the summing up of this part of my subject may
be thus made— like colours reproduce like; black and red being
origins, the cross is the fruit of intermixture between these shades.
I kept a pair of cross foxes in confinement at Slave Lake; their
offspring were all cross. I had only one litter when the bitch died.
Foxes are very shy animals, and difficult to tame; indeed, when old
they appear to pine away in confinement; when young they are
playful, but at all times rather snappish. They are far from being
sociable, and generally burrow alone, although It is not uncommon
for the members of one family to live together.
The above views, I deferentially opine, are perhaps as
reasonably probable as that of the eminent Prof. Spencer
F . Baird i n respect to the origin of the American red fox,
which he and others thought might be the lineal descendant
of individuals of the European red fox introduced many
years ago, the fact of their present abundance and extent of
distribution being no barrier to the reception of the idea. It
is rather remarkable, however, that the supposed varieties
— cross, red, silver, and black— should, in Europe as well
as in America, be confined to the northern portions of both
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| Title | Page 216 |
| OCR | M A M M A L S OF N O R T H E R N C A N A D A 193 manner of domestic dogs. At Dunvegan, on Peace River, I have repeatedly observed this. The males fight violently for the possession of the females; many are maimed and some killed. A number of males thus in all likelihood cohabit with the same female, which gives rise to the varieties of colour in a litter. Instances are reported as having occurred in which all the varieties were taken in one den, but of this I am rather doubtful. It is very difficult to tell the future colour of cub foxes; the red appear to be cross, and the cross to be silver, which may have caused an error, though I write under correction. I have seen many Indians even mistaken in this. They have brought me live cub foxes for silver, which on growing up proved to be cross. My own theory is that the silver fox is the offspring of two silver parents; the cross, of a silver and red; the red, of two reds; and the different shades being caused by fresh inter- breeds. Thus two negroes will have neither white nor mulatto children, nor will two whites have black or mulatto offspring. I do not know whether I have explained my ideas on the subject clearly or not. They are the result of my experience on a subject to which I have given no small attention. I have often robbed fox dens, and have also bred the animals, and the summing up of this part of my subject may be thus made— like colours reproduce like; black and red being origins, the cross is the fruit of intermixture between these shades. I kept a pair of cross foxes in confinement at Slave Lake; their offspring were all cross. I had only one litter when the bitch died. Foxes are very shy animals, and difficult to tame; indeed, when old they appear to pine away in confinement; when young they are playful, but at all times rather snappish. They are far from being sociable, and generally burrow alone, although It is not uncommon for the members of one family to live together. The above views, I deferentially opine, are perhaps as reasonably probable as that of the eminent Prof. Spencer F . Baird i n respect to the origin of the American red fox, which he and others thought might be the lineal descendant of individuals of the European red fox introduced many years ago, the fact of their present abundance and extent of distribution being no barrier to the reception of the idea. It is rather remarkable, however, that the supposed varieties — cross, red, silver, and black— should, in Europe as well as in America, be confined to the northern portions of both |
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