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 Proudly the hunter laid the kill down at the ravenous mother fox's feet, and himself drew back until she should have had her breakfast. He would not have tried to get a portion of the rat had she chosen to eat it all. She fell upon the muskrat with great fury, and ripped it ruthlessly and savagely. At last, she stepped back, and in fox language, indicated that her lord might help himself, which he proceeded to do without a second invitation.

Finally the mother fox went back into the den to suckle the whelps, and the old fox went to the meadow to hunt for mice. His portion of the rat had been small, and he was still hungry.

Meadow mice were a much choicer dainty than muskrat, and he wanted to take good care of his family in the spruces during the critical period.

The pups at this time were simply four small balls of woolly fur. They would keep this woolly coat for three or four months, until they shed their puppy coat. But even at this stage of their existence the young