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February 06, 1992 - Some Fascinating Facts About Foxes4A • The S.gffglk Times * Fe0juary 6, -1992, Some Fascinating Facts About Foxes By Paul Stoutenburgh I was out in the garage working on a new martin house when Barbara called, "There's a fox out by the chickens!" Knowing all too well what that meant, I dropped everything and ran to where I thought the massacre might Focus take place. When I got to the on Nature chicken coop there wasn't a chicken in sight. He'd spooked them so that they had all taken cover under the thick evergreens that surrounded their pen. Nor would they come out as I reassured them that I'd be their protector. They were taking no chances and I knew why. At this time of year when things freeze up and digging in frozen ground is almost impossible, the fox can't get at the mice and voles he's so used to dig- ging out in the fields and woods. I can appreciate this and would even cooperate with Mr. or Mrs. Fox if I could direct them to the appropriate victim. By that I mean, like so many freelance chicken growers, I have too many roosters in continual combat for the ladies in the flock. The fox's choice of targets never seems to take the roosters; on the contrary, my best setting hens seem to disappear. Search as I could I couldn't find a trace of a feather or a bit of blood that might give me a clue that one of the chickens had been sacrificed in the name of wildlife survival. Often a fox will catch a chicken and run with it, only to stop some distance away to finish off the Low, level insurance Irates guaranteed for TRENDSETTER'm LEVEL 10 POLICY" Annual Premium For First 10 years. 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GAGEN„ CLU, ChFC Main Road, P.O. Box 54 Mattituck, NY 11952 298 -4700 Name Aaten CI" Stale zip IPh- Dale of BiM Smoker_Nonsmdler Male I'mile FIRsTTRANSAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY THE INV EROFITIE PYRAMID, LIS WORKING FOR YM- a=��a �� job and perhaps taste a bit of the spoils. But even up in back in the pasture where I walked there was no evidence of any kind that he had made a kill. Perhaps my wife's quick action scared him off. It's believed that red foxes mate for life. For sure, they are monogamous through the breeding season, which starts in late winter about the time foxes are sniffing the air a bit more than usual. It's during this time that a site is chosen, preferably in a bank or on a side hill or perhaps, as a man once told me, right under his garage. Having the ability to live close to man is one of the main reasons the red fox has been able to survive in our area. Another example of how they live close to man: Recently my son, who flies out of a nearby airport, told me about a fox dcn a mere 20 feet off the runway where plane after plane pulls out and tests its engines before takeoff. People say to me they never see any foxes around. My only answer is that they are out there and they are doing well. Anyone who knows tracks has probably seen their small familiar in -line footsteps along the beach or in the snow. Another reason we don't see them is that foxes spend much of their time traveling at night or in out -of- the -way places where they hunt for mice and voles. I know they visit my back pasture where I never see them, except for the telltale diggings for rodents I see the next day. I guess we should remember the saying "As sly as a fox" for they have the uncanny ability to disappear when you know they're about. Case in point being my response to Barbara's call. When I got there, there was nothing about. The fox had seemingly vanished into the air. Born in the Spring In early spring the young arc born, usually five in a litter. For the first two weeks they nurse with their eyes closed. Then in the fourth and fifth week they start eating meat, which can be very demanding for both parents. Foxes will eat anything they come across from a grasshopper or some wild berries to birds, mice, rabbits, eggs, frogs and snakes. You name it and a fox has prob- ably eaten it. I've often found the dis- Photo by Paul Stoulonburgh FOX DEN — Toward the end of winter, foxes have paired up and den sites are sought out. They can be found almost anywhere from a dune to a side hill to under an old outbuilding. carded parts of birds and animals and even steak bones outside the dens of foxes, showing their variety of food. There's nothing more delightful than to watch a family of young outside their dcn frolicking with each other. All their actions of jumping, stalking, fighting, tumbling and other activities are prepar- ing them for when they'll be on their own come early fall. It is then that they'll have to find their own new terri- tory, which will probably cover a mile or more square in size. Foxes, along with coyotes and wolves, belong to the family Canidae. Each have their own territory they operate in, coyotes several square miles and the wolf pack I am told will range in size from 50 to 5,000 square miles. Their i w169w ■ wwL n.M M1M 78 Years Ago Feb. 7, 1914 98 Years Old: Last Friday a number of the neigh- bors and friends of Nancy Julian called on her to help cel- ebrate her 98th birthday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Charles Hartley, on First Street in Greenport. Mrs. Julian is a remarkable woman, quite young in body and mind. She entertained her callers with some stories of her early life. In her childhood days, before the railroad, there were two ways of going to New York —by sailing sloop and by stagecoach. Nobody was clamoring for the post office in those days. There were only two mails a week and when the stage broke down there was only one. There was no two cent postage. When Mrs. Julian went to Indiana it cost 15 cents to send a letter to Long Island. And the 15 cents in those days were not as plentiful as they are today. Our Boys' Welfare: A meeting has been called by the Rev. C.A. Barwise for Tuesday evening, Feb. 10, at 7:30 in the Baptist Chapel, for all men and women of any creed who are interested in the welfare of Greenport's boys. There are few places that are so poorly provided with clean places of resort for the boys and young men. Most small towns and villages have something of the nature of the YMCA, though less pretentious. At this meeting it is hoped plans can be formulated to help the problem. If we suffer territories are well defined by urine and feces, which actually create an "olfactory fence" to keep out any would - be intruders. Should anyone enter this area a fight for the territory would ensue. All Canidae have paws well adapted for traveling. The four toes on which they walk and the big pad make for swift pursuit. The toenails that are thick and heavy are excellent tools for digging and holding food as it is ripped apart. The presence of toenails in fox tracks separates them from the marauding cat. In the grey fox the toenails are much more curved and pointed, giving them the ability to actually climb trees. I don't believe we have any more grey foxes left on Long Island but at one time grey foxes were the most common fox in the east because of the great forests and undercover they were provided. There were always red foxes about but because of the thick and overbearing forests very few were seen by early settlers. Because of this, red foxes were actually imported from abroad for the noble sport of hunting with the hounds. As land was cleared and the forests gave way to open fields and meadows the red fox became predominant and the grey fox retreated to the wooded forest. Now the favorite food of the red fox was made more readily available in the form of meadow mice, voles and rabbits. Today the red fox is probably a mixture of native fox and those imported from years ago. No matter, he is still one of nature's great survivors. One that can always bring a flash of excitement when seen. Particularly on a cold winter day as the sun starts to set and a call comes from the house, "There's a fox out by the chickens!" school news business beat community news *real estate transfers your home focus on nature *town hall notes•on aging *north fork outdoors •scoreboard •coming up The Suffolk .features Times *news •sports does it all! • columns• the growing manhood to become degraded we strike at the root of village morality, respectability and economic stabili- ty. 50 Years Ago Feb. 5, 1942 GB>& C to Install Hospital: With the rapidly increasing number of employees at the Greenport Basin and Construction Company's plant, especially now that the company has a contract from the government for welded steel vessels in addition to the wooden mine sweepers under construction, a completely equipped hospital is being installed at the plant. This hospital, which will be in the old grist mill building, will be equipped with all the necessary equipment for the treatment of all kinds of injuries. 25 Years Ago Feb. 10, 1967 February Blizzard: As has happened for years, the North Fork was swept by a typical February blizzard this week with about 10 inches of snow and the temperature in the low teens. Traffic in the village was almost at a stand- still. The Southold Rotary Club canceled its weekly meet- ing at Mitchell's Restaurant and the Greenport school was closed on Tuesday.