30 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS 



The fences on the fells consist of loose stone 

 walls, and foxes often run the wall tops for long 

 distances, both when hunted and when out on 

 the prowl. 



On bad ground the fox uses his brush to aid him 

 when making a quick turn at speed, and also to 

 correct his balance in descending a decUvity. I 

 once watched a big dog-fox descend a steep, frozen 

 snow drift. He carried his brush straight up 

 in the air, whilst he took short mincing steps on 

 the shppery surface. At ordinary times he carries 

 his caudal appendage straight out behind him, 

 the tip incUned slightly towards the ground. 



Both dog-fox and vixen may have a white tag 

 to the brush, though I think there are more of the 

 former than the latter with such white tips. A 

 white-tagged brush is not at any rate, as I have 

 heard it said, the invariable mark of a dog-fox. 



Hill foxes vary a good deal in colour, from a 

 light yellowish-red to dark red, with sometimes a 

 good many grey hairs mixed with the rest. The 

 " greyhound " fox often showed a lot of white 

 about the fore legs, but modern foxes shade off 

 from red to black. During the 1918 season the 

 Coniston Hounds killed a fox with an abnormal 

 amount of white about the front of its mask. 



When driven off the fell, and hard pressed by 

 hounds in the low ground, I have seen foxes take 

 refuge in all sorts of places. Once on a roof, again 



