FOXES AND 'SCENT' 



so is surely deserving of our support and pro- 

 tection. 



There is a saying amongst hunting men, and 

 it is true enough, that when the scent of a fox is 

 very apparent, there is but little chance of a gallop. 

 I am not going to write a chapter on ' scent,' for 

 it is a subject which no one has ever yet succeeded 

 in understanding. I am inclined to believe that its 

 strength or weakness depends, in a great measure, 

 on electricity, and hounds can * own ' it or not 

 according as it is nearer to, or higher from, the 

 ground. In the former case, they can perceive it 

 and we cannot ; in the latter, it is apparent to our 

 nostrils, but too high for theirs. This may be a 

 very unscientific way of putting it, but I do not 

 profess to be scientific. There is, however, no 

 gainsaying the fact that hounds can hunt a fox 

 over some soils better than others, and under 

 some conditions of atmosphere with perfect ease, 

 whereas under others they cannot, to use a 

 hunting phrase, ' own a yard of it' ; and I have 

 never, under any circumstances, known hounds 

 able to hunt out a line when the scent of the fox 

 was apparent to human nostrils. 



I have frequently fancied that I could detect 

 the smell of a fox, and more especially has this 

 been the case when shooting rabbits in gorse- 

 coverts. For some years I held the lease of a 

 large gorse-covert, in which I managed to pre- 

 serve a goodly number of rabbits, and could 

 always show two or three litters of foxes as well. 



