26 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS 



the sun begins to sink, Reynard leaves his bed, 

 stretches himself, and turns his mask in the 

 direction of the dales. On the fell proper, there is 

 Httle for him to feed on, with the exception of 

 beetles and frogs, and an occasional carcass in the 

 shape of a defunct sheep. Lower down he can 

 find rabbits, grouse, and perhaps a pheasant, or, if 

 he be impudent enough, can make a raid on the 

 farmers' poultry. Young lamb, too, is an item 

 added to his, or, perhaps, I should say, her menu in 

 spring, for it is then when the vixen has cubs, and 

 the latter require constant feeding. In summer the 

 fells swarm with beetles, and if the excrement of a 

 fox be examined it will often be found to consist 

 almost entirely of the wing cases and other hard 

 portions of these insects. Frogs, too, are a 

 favourite food. I have often found lumps of frog 

 spawn lying on the narrow footpaths leading to the 

 feU tops, and for a long time I used to wonder how 

 these lumps got there. I finally arrived at the 

 conclusion that foxes are responsible for the 

 presence of the spawn. Reynard catches his frog 

 in some pool or marshy spot, and carries his prey 

 with him as he wends his way up one of the weU- 

 defined " trods." There he makes a meal of the 

 frog, but the spawn squeezed out of the creature he 

 disHkes, so leaves it untouched. 



Where he can get rabbits he will seldom go 

 short of food, though little comes amiss to him if 



