40 FOX-HUNTING IN NEW ENGLAND 



ful, sagacious work are in no wise the least of the 

 pleasures of this sport. 



It is a favorite season for fox-hunting when the 

 first snows have fallen, for though the walking is 

 not so good, and hounds are often much inclined 

 to follow the track by sight as well as by smell, the 

 tell-tale footprints show pretty plainly which way 

 the fox has gone, how long he has been gone, and 

 whether it is worth your while to allow the dogs 

 to follow his trail; and you are enabled to help the 

 hounds in puzzling places, though a dog of wisdom 

 and experience seldom needs help, except for the 

 saving of time. A calm day is always best, and if 

 warm enough for the snow to pack without being 

 at all "sposhy," so much the better. Though it is 

 diflScult to "start" a fox during a heavy snowfall, 

 if you do start him he is pretty certain to "play" 

 beautifully, seeming to reckon much on the obUt- 

 eration of his track by the falling snow. At such 

 times he will often circle an hour in the compass of 

 two or three acres. Glare ice holds scent scarcely 

 more than water. This no one knows better than 

 the fox, and you may be sure he will now profit by 

 this knowledge if naked ice can be found. He 

 will also run in the paths of the hare, pick his way 

 carefully along rocky ridges, which have been 

 swept bare of snow by the wind, leaving no visible 

 trace of his passage, and, at times, take to traveled 

 highways. If the snow is deep and fight so that he 



