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Show A Word for Reynard The hunter or trapper who occasionally oc-casionally finds a pheasant wing, fawn remains, or grouse feathers in a fox den, interprets his finding as a sample of widespread preda-tion preda-tion on game, and foresees declining declin-ing game numbers as the result, is not reckoning with the fact that mice and other rodents are Reynard's Rey-nard's basic diet. Food studies over the past 20 years, by D. F. Switzenberg, Wisconsin Wis-consin conservation department game biologist, have shown that food items found in fox dens do not constitute a too reliable index to the animal's feeding habits. Dens do not show all the animal and vegetable matter gathered by the 1 HEZO OR VILLAIN fox, especially small items such as mice, insects and fruits which usually are swallowed whole. Neither can the hunter or trapper be positive that the pheasant, for example, was killed by the fox and not by something else, but dragged into the den by Reynard. In a North Dakota survey of fox eating habits last year, Switzenberg Switzen-berg points out, an examination of 72 fox stomachs revealed the following fol-lowing diet: 47 per cent mice, 23 per cent carrion, 14 per cent rabbits, rab-bits, 9 per cent vegetation, 4 per cent game birds. 2 per cent insects and 1 per cent non-game birds. AAA |