94 FOXHUNTING ON LAKELAND FELLS 



As far as the fox is concerned, there is httle 

 doubt that he and his relations var}^ considerably 

 in the amount of scent they give off. Much 

 depends too, upon the behaviour of a fox, as to 

 whether hounds can make the best use of his Hne. 

 A straight-running fox is easier to hunt than a 

 twisting one, while the body-scent — i.e. scent 

 retained by the atmosphere — allows hounds to 

 run with their heads up, the scent being " breast 

 high." That scent is often far too high I have 

 proved over and over again. Many a time I have 

 been walking to a meet, and at some favourite 

 crossing place for foxes on a road, or elsewhere, I 

 have caught the scent of a fox quite strongly. 

 Whenever scent has thus been retained high in 

 the atmosphere, I have never seen hounds able 

 to run fast, for it is over their heads, and they 

 cannot reach it. In the case of foot-scent, such 

 as is left on a cold drag, hounds have to get their 

 noses right down to it, and work it out patiently. 

 Foot-scent wiU lead hounds to the exact spot where 

 a fox jumps a wall, or creeps through a hedge, 

 whereas with body-scent they may run fast, but 

 quite wide of the exact line of their fox, the 

 distance varjdng Avith the amount of wind. On 

 a real good scenting day the scent appears to 

 remain " breast high," whereas on a bad scenting 

 day, it disappears quickly, or rises too high for 

 hounds. 



