Fox farming was once an important industry in Albert County. In the early part of the twentieth century, before the beginning of the animal rights movement, clothes made out of animal skins were incredibly popular. The first person to try fox farming in Albert County was Frank Steeves, who opened a fox farm in Upper Coverdale between 1910 and 1913. Several years later the Little River Silver Fox Company began operations after purchasing three silver foxes for a total of $15,000, a very large sum of money in those days. The company was so successful that soon other fox farming companies and individual farmers began to appear. In a few short years together all of these fox farms made up the largest group of fox ranches in the world. The largest of these farms, and the largest fox farm in the Canada, was the Colpitts Fox Ranch in Colpitts Settlement.
In the 1920's, foxes cost between $500 and $1000 for a pair, and pelts could be sold for around $75 to $300 each. During this time, many tools were used to manage the foxes, with particular focus on the care of their furs. For example, these clinching tongs from 1923 would have been used to hold the fox for inspection of the fur and during deworming, and since wild foxes tend to eat whole prey animals, food for farm foxes often consisted of raw meat, livers, and tripe (stomach). Eventually, the demand for furs and fox farming would decline due to World War II, effectively bringing fox farming to an end in Albert County.