Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/209

Rh has a pretty chain and collar and wears it gracefully. He loves to go riding in the automobile with the family. He runs about the house at will and romps with the children and he has a little mattress of his own and sleeps on the fire escape. Reynard is especially fond of the baby and the kitten. He gets excited at the sight of a chicken with feathers on it.—I suppose it's an instinct inherited from his poultry-loving ancestors whose nocturnal visit to the chicken coop is an old, but sad story.

The fox is an omnivorous feeder. Anything from a fat goose to a cluster of sweet grapes or berries makes a strong appeal to his sensitive palate. The wild wood mice, rabbits, partridges, wild ducks, with an occasional taste of wild honey—(when he can steal it without getting too badly stung) make up his favourite diet. When stung by angry bees, he makes for the brook and plasters his wounds with mud and clay to draw out the poison. In times of stress he has been known to tackle the formidable porcupine and dispatch it without injury from the terrible quills of that much dreaded little beast. When attacked, the