Fox "kits"?

[Wilson Gray]

Probably not. I learned fox "cub" in St. Louis, where foxes are - or,
perhaps, were, since I'm thinking of the '50's - as much an urban
animal as raccoons, skunks, coyotes, etc. elsewhere. It could well be
that the only people who referred to baby foxes as "cubs" were the kids
in my particular neighborhood.

My buddy and I once tried to catch a fox that was in his backyard.
Fortunately for us, the fox got away, since we were using our bare
hands. The stupidity of youth is amazing, when you look back on it.
When we told the rest of the guys about it, they thought we meant "fox"
as in "very attractive young woman." Much comical confusion ensued.

-Wilson Gray

On Feb 22, 2005, at 10:42 AM, FRITZ JUENGLING wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       FRITZ JUENGLING <juengling_fritz at SALKEIZ.K12.OR.US>
> Subject:      Re: Fox "kits"?
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> "Fox CUBS" ?  Never heard that.  I've known 'kit' all my life.  Is
> there an isogloss somewhere?
> Fritz
>
>>>> wilson.gray at RCN.COM 02/20/05 01:57PM >>>
> In a newspaper article about the taming of foxes, the author referred
> to what I know as fox "cubs" as fox "kits." Fox "kits"?! Why not fox
> "pups"? There's a species of vulpine known as a "kit fox." Perhaps the
> writer had that in mind.
>
> -Wilson
>