120 



In my humble opinion every earth ought to" be 

 permanently closed by the first of November, and kept 

 reUgiously in that state until the middle of February, 

 when those scratched out then may be left. This only 

 in a country well stocked with foxes, as otherwise it is 

 necessary to do everything to encourage them to remain 

 in the district. A covert, however, of a fair size that 

 is kept strictly quiet, free from dogs and poachers, 

 is pretty certain to be tenanted if there is a fox within 

 ten miles. If a vixen has herseK been bred in an 

 earth she will probably want to scratch out one for 

 her coming family, and it is better the earths should be 

 a field or two away from the covert, where she will move 

 the cubs when old enough. 



Foxes are, unfortunately, not over clean in their 

 habits, and the result is that an earth occupied by them 

 for any length of time becomes a very unhealthy spot — 

 a certain breeder of mange. By forcing them to remain 

 above ground during the hunting season the earths have 

 a chance of getting sweet again, and this is helped by 

 the foxes being obliged to scratch fresh entrances. 

 Permanent stopping for the season is often made 

 difficult by badgers, but at the same time they do good 

 in cleaning out earths that have been made foul by 

 foxes. 



The M.F.H. cannot always do as he likes and must 

 consider the wishes of covert owners, but when it is 

 left entirely in his hands, he would do well to abolish 

 artificial earths, allow none of any kind in covert and 

 only natural ones outside. 



The initial business in making a covert is to chose 

 the site, and this must, of course, be governed to a certain 

 extent by the fields available for the purpose in the 

 district it is desired to command. If it is possible to 



