DCHP-1 Online
patch fox 
n. a color-phase of the red fox, Vulpes fulva, marked with a cross over the shoulders.
See also: cross-fox
- 1861 Should he be a RED [fox], his skin is worth half a dozen geese; if a PATCH he is worth a cow; if a BLACK PATCH, Or a SILVER GREY, he is worth a horse; and if a real BLACK, a horse and sleigh and harness, whip and all, is not too high an estimate.
- 1942 The most common of these [variations] is the "cross" or "patch" fox, which is yellow with a dark cross or patch across the shoulders.
- 1861 Should he be a RED [fox], his skin is worth half a dozen geese; if a PATCH he is worth a cow; if a BLACK PATCH, Or a SILVER GREY, he is worth a horse; and if a real BLACK, a horse and sleigh and harness, whip and all, is not too high an estimate.