What Foxes Eat

To settle a long-standing controversy between fox hunters and quail hunters (who claimed that foxes kill & eat game birds) the Virginia Commission of Game & Inland Fisheries last winter announced that it would examine the stomachs of 500 foxes, settle once & for all the question of just what a fox does eat (TIME, Jan. 4). Last week the Commission announced the results of its examination of the first 50 stomachs inspected, all from Virginia foxes killed last winter. Items:

Rabbits, 44%

Rats & mice, 17%

Poultry, 8%

Sheep (probably carrion), 8%

Beechnuts, 6%

Corn, 6%

Persimmons, apples, pears, 4%

In only one fox stomach were found quail remains; small, nongame birds were in only six. The Bureau is now examining the stomachs of 50 foxes killed in the spring, paying $1 per stomach. Virginia Negroes, wise as Uncle Remus, have always known that of all foods Brer Fox prefers Brer Rabbit.

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