35 8 HUNTING PRELIMINARIES. 



which would have staggered humanity in the person of the 

 M.F.H., when a heavy snowstorm came, and another turkey 

 disappeared; but the tracks in the snow showed that a 

 badger, not bold Reynard, was the culprit. That badger was 

 promptly dug out, and sent to the Zoo, where he lived at ease 

 for many years. A jealous vixen will sometimes kill another 

 vixen's cubs, and 1 have known two litters respectively 

 destroyed by the rival dams. The most curious case I ever 



Kig. 229. Thin hedge, 5 ft. high. 



heard was that of a mangy old dog fox killing a whole litter 

 of cubs, and eating one, if not more of them, in a country 

 overflowing with game of all sorts. 



" A terrier should on no account be put into an artificial 

 earth, even as a last chance of a find for that day ; because 

 doing so will in all probability make the foxes forsake it. 



" The best material for a fox covert is gorse, which requires 

 a good deal of care, and will not grow well everywhere. It is 

 also liable to get killed by frost. One-third of a gorse 

 covert should be burned down regularly, as a covert of 



