THE MIND OF THE FOX 53 



Melton. This is an instance of the persistence with 

 which an old fox returns to his haunts. He had 

 been hunted five times consecutively, and always 

 came back to Glooston. 



A fox, moreover, very soon knows whether 

 hounds are on his line or not. Coming back from 

 hunting one afternoon, I viewed a fox in the next 

 field ; he was going his best pace, and I could hear 

 hounds running. The cry stopped, and the fox 

 slackened and sat up to listen. Then the music of the 

 pack travelled down the wind again. The creature 

 now sloped quietly away, and dwindling sounds 

 showed that the hounds had changed foxes, of which 

 he was as well aware as I. 



It has been sometimes said that a fox can dis- 

 tinguish harriers or staghounds from his natural 

 enemies. This, however, is not at all certain ; and a 

 friend of mine, the Master of a West-country pack in 

 a much-hunted district (he has two packs of stag 

 hounds and three packs of harriers in his country), 

 told me he is sure that foxes in such a country live 

 much underground. It may be that the foxes do 

 distinguish, but they do not the less dislike the dis- 

 turbance caused by the presence of hounds. I have 

 not much doubt that those Masters are right who 

 dislike harriers and beagles in their country : whether 



