QUECK RANCHERS' 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY ROSEMARY CURLEY 
     
    
   
   
    
     The wild red fox rarely recovers from sarcoptic mange and fortune. 
     
     ately it is not a disease which affects PEI foxes. The Island is free 
     
     of both rabies and mange and there are no recent records of either in 
     
     wild or ranched foxes. Still, it has always puzzled me that no mange 
     
     was imported during the early days of fur farming when a clandestine 
     
     trade in foxes, likened in scope to rum-running, was operating on 
     
     P.E.I. Island foxes were very early recognized as superior and a 
     
     quick profit could be made by importing foxes and immediately resell- 
     
     ing them as the genuine Island moneymaker. I 
     
    

    
     Foxes were imported from all areas \H:; 
     
     of the continent for both legitimate / ‘ 
     
     and fraudulent purposes, from Alaska, K;/<\ 
     
     Alberta, Wyoming, Quebec, Ontario and lfl;ddgrp- 
     
     especially from Newfoundland, Nova ‘ 
     
     Scotia and New Brunswick. Today one 
     
     need only look across the Northumber- 
     
     land Strait to find an area where 
     
     mange is a recurring problem in wild 
     
     foxes. Therefore, I was not surprised 
     
     when I recently turned up an early ; t I 
     
     record of mange on Island fox ranches. ‘fiizmp: 
     
     Luckily, Islandranchers wereequal to _. 
     
     the problem and the mange mites were Acuelaa HMNé 
     
     quickly annihilated. ’ 
     
    

    
     As related by Dr. I.E. Croken, a veterinarian, fox ranchers had 
     
     forseen the inevitability of importing disease with their animals and 
     
     demanded that preventative measures be taken. After July 1913, incom- 
     
     ing foxes were inspected by theFederal Health of Animals Branch. De- 
     
     spite these measures, and perhaps in part due to the illegitimate fox 
     
     dealers, sarcoptic mange was recorded on ranches in January of 1914. 
     
     The outbreak involved animals on several ranches throughout the pro- 
     
     vince, the source not mentioned. The ranches were immediately quaran- 
     
     tined, foxes were treated and daily disinfection of fox pens and 
     
     equipment undertaken. Mange mites and eggs in pens fell before the 
     
     "fire-gun", a painter's blow torch, and the disease was overcome in a 
     
     matter of months. 
     
    

    
     The isolation of an island has some drawbacks...causeway, anyone? 
     
     But isolation, coupled with good regulations, has succeeded in keepv' 
     
     ing wild furbearers on PEI mange-free. 
     
    

    
     LITERATURE CONSULTED 
     
    

    
     Balcolm, A.B. 1916. Fox farming in Prince Edward Island - a chapter 
     
     in the history of speculation. Quarterly Journ- 
     
     al of Economics Vol 30 p 655—681. 
     
    

    
     Croken, I.E. 1929. Early experiences of a ranch veterinary. Rod & 
     
     Gun and Canadian Silver Fox News Vol 31 p 72. 
     
    

    
     Curley, F.R. 1983. Population dynamics and morphological variation 
     
     of the red fox (Vuloes vulpes rubricosa Bangs) 
     
     on Prince Edward Island. Unpublished MSC thesis 
     
     Acadia University 189 pages. 
     
    
   
   
    
            
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
           
     
    
   
   
    
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