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<h2> CHAPTER XXVII Reddy Fox Joins the School </h2>
<p>When school was called to order the following morning not one was missing.
You see, with the exception of Jimmy Skunk and Prickly Porky, there was
not one in whose life Reddy Fox did not have a most important part. Even
Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel and Chatterer the Red Squirrel, tree folk
though they were, had many times narrowly missed furnishing Reddy with a
dinner. As for Johnny Chuck and Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare and
Striped Chipmunk and Danny Meadow Mouse and Whitefoot the Wood Mouse,
there were few hours of day or night when they did not have Reddy in mind,
knowing that to forget him even for a few minutes might mean the end of
them.</p>
<p>Just imagine the feelings of these little people when, just as they had
comfortably seated themselves for the morning lesson, Reddy himself
stepped out from behind a tree. Never before was a school so quickly
broken up. In the winking of an eye Old Mother Nature was alone, save for
Reddy Fox, Jimmy Skunk, and in the trees Prickly Porky the Porcupine and
Happy Jack and Chatterer.</p>
<p>Reddy Fox looked as if he felt uncomfortable. "I didn't mean to break up
your school," said he to Old Mother Nature. "I wouldn't have thought of
coming if you hadn't sent for me."</p>
<p>Old Mother Nature smiled. "I didn't tell any one that I was going to send
for you, Reddy," said she, "for I was afraid that if I did no one would
come this morning. I promised them a surprise, but it is clear that no one
guessed what that surprise was to be. Go over by that old stump near the
Lone Little Path and sit there, Reddy."</p>
<p>Then Old Mother Nature called each of the little people by name,
commanding each to return at once. She spoke sternly, very sternly indeed.
One by one they appeared from all sorts of hiding places, glancing
fearfully towards Reddy Fox, yet not daring to disobey Old Mother Nature.</p>
<p>When at last all were crowded about her as closely as they could get, Old
Mother Nature spoke and this time her voice was soft. "I am ashamed of
you," said she. "Truly I am ashamed of you. How could you think that I
would allow any harm to come to you? Reddy Fox is here because I sent for
him, but he is going to sit right where he is until I tell him he can go,
and not one of you will be harmed by him. To begin with, I am going to
tell you one or two facts about Reddy, and then I am going to find out
just how much you have learned about him yourselves.</p>
<p>"It may seem queer to you that Reddy Fox belongs to the same family as
Bowser the Hound, but it is true. Both are members of the Dog family and
thus are quite closely related. Howler the Wolf and Old Man Coyote are
also members of the family, so all are cousins. Look closely at Reddy and
you will see at once that he looks very much like a small Dog with a
beautiful red coat, white waistcoat, black feet and bushy tail. Now,
Peter, you probably know as much about Reddy as any one here. At least you
should. Tell us what you have learned in your efforts to keep out of his
clutches."</p>
<p>Peter scratched a long ear thoughtfully and glanced sideways at Reddy Fox.
"I certainly ought to know something about him," he began. "He was the
very first person my mother warned me to watch for, because she said he
was especially fond of young Rabbits and was the slyest, smartest and most
to be feared of all my enemies. Since then I have found out that she knew
just what she was talking about." Johnny Chuck, Danny Meadow Mouse and
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse nodded as if they quite agreed. Then Peter
continued, "Reddy lives chiefly by hunting, and in his turn he is hunted,
so he needs to have sharp wits. When he isn't hunting me he is hunting
Danny Meadow Mouse or Whitefoot or Striped Chipmunk or Mrs. Grouse, or Bob
White, or is trying to steal one of Farmer Brown's Chickens, or is
catching Frogs along the edge of the Smiling Pool, or grasshoppers out in
the Green Meadows. So far as I can make out, anything Reddy can catch
furnishes him with food. I guess he doesn't eat anything but such things
as these."</p>
<p>"Your guess is wrong, Peter," spoke up Reddy Fox, who had been listening
with a grin on his crafty face. "I am rather fond of certain kinds of
fruits. You didn't know that, did you, Peter?"</p>
<p>"No, I didn't," replied Peter. "I'm glad to know it. I think it is
dreadful to live entirely by killing others."</p>
<p>"You might add," remarked Reddy, "that I like a meal of fish occasionally,
and eggs are always welcome. I am not particular what I eat so long as I
can get my stomach full."</p>
<p>"Reddy Fox hunts with ears, eyes and nose," continued Peter. "Many a time
I've watched him listening for the squeak of Danny Meadow Mouse or
watching for the grass to move and show where Danny was hiding; and many a
time he has found my scent with his wonderful nose and followed me just as
Bowser the Hound follows him. I guess there isn't much going on that
Reddy's eyes, ears and nose don't tell him. But it is Reddy's quick wits
that the rest of us fear most. We never know what new trick he will try.
Lots of enemies are easy to fool, but Reddy isn't one of them. Sometimes I
think he knows more about me than I know about myself. I guess it is just
pure luck that he hasn't caught me with some of those smart tricks of his.</p>
<p>"Reddy hunts both day and night, but I think he prefers night. I guess it
all depends on how hungry he is. More than once I've seen him bringing
home a Chicken, but I am told that he is smart enough not to steal
Chickens near his home, but always to go some distance to get them. Also
I've been told that he is too clever to go to the same Chicken yard two
nights in succession. So far as I know, he isn't afraid of any one except
a hunter with a terrible gun. He doesn't seem to mind being chased by
Bowser the Hound at all."</p>
<p>"I don't," spoke up Reddy. "I rather enjoy it. It gives me good exercise.
Any time I can't fool Bowser by breaking my trail so he can't find it
again, I deserve to be caught. I am not even so terribly afraid of a
hunter with a gun. You see, usually I can guess what a hunter will do
better than he can what I will do."</p>
<p>Old Mother Nature nodded. "That sounds like boasting," said she, "but it
isn't. Reddy Fox is one of the few animals who has succeeded in holding
his own against man, and he has done it simply by using his wits. There is
no other animal as large as Reddy Fox who has succeeded as he has in
living close to the homes of men. It is simply because he has made the
most of the senses I have given him. He has learned to use his eyes, ears
and nose at all times and to understand and make the most of the
information they bring him. Reddy has always been hunted by man, and it is
this very thing which has so sharpened his wits. It is seldom that he is
guilty of making the same mistake twice. All of you little people fear
Reddy, and I suspect some of you hate him. But always remember that he
never kills for the love of killing, and only when he must have food.
There would be something sadly missing in the Green Forest and on the
Green Meadows were there no Reddy Fox. Reddy, where do you and Mrs. Reddy
make your home? And how do you raise your babies?"</p>
<p>"This year our home is up in the Old Pasture," replied Reddy. "We have the
nicest kind of a house dug in the ground underneath a big rock. It has
only one entrance, but this is because there is no need of any other. No
one could possibly dig us out there. Last year our home was on the Green
Meadows and there were three doorways to that. The year before we dug our
house in a gravelly bank just within the edge of the Green Forest. The
babies are born in a comfortable bedroom deep underground. Sometimes we
have a storeroom in addition to the bedroom; there Mrs. Reddy and I can
keep food when there is more than can be eaten at one meal. When the
babies are first born in the spring and Mrs. Reddy cannot leave them, I
take food to her. When the youngsters are big enough to use their sharp
little teeth, we take turns hunting food for them. Usually we hunt
separately, but sometimes we hunt together. You know often two can do what
one cannot. If Bowser the Hound happens to find the trail of Mrs. Reddy
when there are babies at home, she leads him far away from our home. Then
I join her, and take her place so that she can slip away and go back to
the babies. Bowser never knows the difference.</p>
<p>"Our children are well trained if I do say it. We teach them how to hunt,
how to fool their enemies, and all the tricks we have learned. No one has
a better training than a young Fox."</p>
<p>"Here is a conundrum for you little folks," said Old Mother Nature. "When
is a Red Fox not a Red Fox?" Everybody blinked. Most of them looked as if
they thought Old Mother Nature must be joking. But suddenly Chatterer the
Red Squirrel, whose wits are naturally quick, remembered how Old Mother
Nature had told them that there were black Gray Squirrels. "When he is
some other color," cried Chatterer.</p>
<p>"That's the answer," said Old Mother Nature. "Once in a while a pair of
Red Foxes will have a baby who hasn't a red hair on him. He will be all
black, with perhaps just the tip of his tail white. Or his fur will be all
black just tipped with white. Then he is called a Black Fox or Silver Fox.
He is still a Red Fox, yet there is nothing red about him. Sometimes the
fur is only partly marked with black and then he is called a Cross Fox. A
great many people have supposed that the Black or Silver Fox and the Cross
Fox were distinct kinds. They are not. They are simply Red Foxes with
different coats. The fur of the Silver Fox is considered by man to be one
of the choicest of all furs and tremendous prices are paid for it. This
means, of course, that a young Fox whose coat is black will need to be
very smart indeed if he would live to old age, for once he has been seen
by man he will be hunted unceasingly."</p>
<p>Reddy Fox had been listening intently and now Mother Nature noticed a
worried look on his face. "What is it, Reddy?" said she. "You look
anxious."</p>
<p>"I am anxious," said he. "What you have just said has worried me. You see,
one of my cubs at home is all black. Now that I have learned that his fur
is so valuable, Mrs. Reddy and I will have to take special pains to teach
him all we know."</p>
<p>"I want you all to know that Reddy Fox and Mrs. Reddy mate for life," said
Old Mother Nature. "Reddy is the best of fathers and the best of mates."</p>
<p>"There's one thing I do envy Reddy," spoke up Peter Rabbit, "and that is
that big tail of his. It is a wonderful tail. I wish I had one like it."</p>
<p>How everybody laughed as they tried to picture Peter Rabbit with a big
tail like that of Reddy Fox. "I am afraid you wouldn't get far if you had
to carry that around," said Old Mother Nature. "Even Reddy finds it rather
a burden in wet weather when it becomes heavy with water. That is one
reason you do not find him abroad much when it is raining or in winter
when the snow is soft and wet. Reddy Fox is at home all over the northern
half of this country, and everywhere he is the same sly, clever fellow
whom you all know so well.</p>
<p>"In the South and some parts of the East and West, Reddy has a cousin of
about his own size whose coat is gray with red on the sides of his neck,
ears and across his breast. The under part of his body is reddish, his
throat and the middle of his breast are white. He is called the Gray Fox.
He prefers the Green Forest to the open country, for he is not nearly as
smart as his Cousin Reddy. He is, if anything, a better runner, but his
wits are slower and he cannot so well hold his own against man. Instead of
making his home in a hole in the ground, he usually chooses a hollow
tree-trunk or hollow log. The babies are born in a nest of leaves in the
bottom of a hollow tree. In some parts of the West this Fox is called the
Tree Fox, because often he climbs up in low trees.</p>
<p>"The Gray Fox of the South is not the only cousin of Reddy's," continued
Old Mother Nature. "In certain parts of the Great West, on the plains,
lives one of the smallest of Reddy's cousins, called the Kit Fox or Swift.
He is no larger than Black Pussy, Farmer Brown's Cat, and gets his name of
Swift from his great speed in running. He is a prairie animal and lives in
burrows in the ground as most prairie animals do. His back is of a grayish
color, while his sides are yellowish red. Beneath he is white. The upper
side of his tail is yellowish-gray, below it is yellowish, and the tip is
black. In general appearance he is more like the Gray Fox than Reddy. He
lacks the quick wit of Reddy Fox and is easily trapped.</p>
<p>"In the hot, dry regions of the Southwest, where the Kangaroo Rats and
Pocket Mice live, is another cousin, closely related to the Kit Fox. This
is called the Desert Fox. Like most of the little people who live on the
desert, he is seldom seen by day. He is very swift of foot. He digs a
burrow with several entrances and his food consists largely of Pocket
Mice, Kangaroo Rats, Ground squirrels and such other small animals as are
found in that part of the country. Like his cousin, the Kit Fox, he is not
especially quick-witted. Neither the Kit Fox nor the Desert Fox are
considered very valuable for their coats, and so are not hunted and
trapped as much as are Reddy Fox and his two cousins of the Great North,
the Arctic Fox and the Blue Fox.</p>
<p>"The Arctic, or White Fox, lives in the Far North, in the land of snow and
ice. He is a little fellow, bigger than the Kit Fox, but only about two
thirds the size of Reddy Fox, and very beautiful. Way up in the Far North
his entire coat is snowy white the year round. The fur is long, very thick
and soft. His tail is very large and handsome. When he lives a little
farther south, he changes his coat in the summer to one of a bluish-brown.
But just as soon as winter approaches, he resumes his white coat. The
young are born in a burrow in the ground, if the parents happen to be
living far enough south for the ground to be free of snow. In the Far
North, their home is a burrow in a snow bank, and there the babies are
born. The white coats of the Arctic Foxes, who live in a world of white,
are of great help to them when hunting, or when trying to escape from
enemies. It is difficult to see them against their white surroundings. In
summer their food consists very largely of ducks and other wild fowl which
nest in great numbers in the Far North. In the winter they hunt for
Lemmings, Arctic Hares and a cousin of Mrs. Grouse called the Ptarmigan,
who lives up there. They pick the bones left by Polar Bears and Wolves.
Getting a living in winter is not easy, and so the Arctic Fox is a great
traveler.</p>
<p>"The Blue Fox is really only a colored White Fox, just as the Black Fox is
a black Red Fox, and his habits are, of course, just the same as the
habits of the White Fox. There are some islands in the Far North, called
the Pribilof Islands, and on them live many Blue Foxes. Both the White and
the Blue Foxes are much hunted for their coats, which are considered very
valuable by man. Certainly they are very beautiful. While these cousins of
Reddy's are clever hunters they do not begin to be as quick-witted as
Reddy, and so are much more easily trapped.</p>
<p>"Now I think this will do for Reddy Fox and his relatives. Reddy is going
to stay right here with me, until the rest of you have had a chance to get
home. After that you will have to watch out for yourselves as usual. Just
remember that Reddy has become the quick-witted person he is because he
has been so much hunted. If you are as smart as Reddy, you will understand
that the more he hunts you, the quicker-witted you also will become.
To-morrow we will take up Reddy's big cousins, the Wolves."</p>
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