DCHP-2

kit fox DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

• 1a

  a small fox, Vulpes velox hebes, once common on the prairies.

  See also: kit ((1))  kitt (def. 1)  prairie fox (def. 2)  swift (fox)  

  • c1902  (1912)  It matters not to the trapper that the little kit fox or swift at run among the hills between the Missouri and Saskatchewan is the most shapely of all the fox kind.
  • 1801  The produce of the year of which I am now speaking, consisted of the following furs and peltries: 106,000 skins, [including] 4000 Kitt fox Skins. . . .
  • 1836  The prairie wolf, the kit-fox and various marmots are peculiar to the plains.
  • 1958  The kit fox is a very small fox found in the Prairie Provinces and B.C.

• 1b

  the fur of this fox, gray on the back, shading to reddish yellow on the belly and legs, the tail being tipped with black.

  See also: kitt (def. 2)  

  • 1801  [There were] 1724 kit foxes.
  • 1823  [The] grizzled skins of this species are imported by the Hudson's Bay Company, under the name of Kitt Foxes.

• 2

  a fox cub; a young fox.

  See also: kit ((1))  

  • 1873  (1904)  "L'homme capable" ran round our line of traps, returning with a couple of kit foxes, the fattest of which he skinned and roasted for his supper.
  • 1956  Gossip also said he was putting on airs, parading boastfully with two "kit-fox" tails attached to the heels of his moccasins. . . .