92 THE FOX 



have more foxes and that they may run over certain 

 lines of country. The artificial covert is as little of 

 an interference with nature as may be and yet it 

 has its disadvantages. A century ago, Nimrod 

 complained that, owing to the number of artificial 

 coverts, foxes were apt to run short. Everyone who 

 has hunted with the Quorn on a Friday must have 

 noticed how apt the foxes are to run rings in that 

 most charming district : there are so many convenient 

 artificial coverts. There can be no doubt that in 

 Nimrod's time there was far less covert of any kind in 

 Leicestershire than there is now. The country was 

 more open and fences were rarer. Under those 

 circumstances foxes had necessarily to travel further. 

 Nimrod speaks of a fox found at Billesdon Coplow 

 and killed at Ranksboro'. That would be a very 

 unlikely thing to happen now. 



With many artificial coverts and well-preserved 

 foxes, hounds are liable to change frequently, 

 and do so as a matter of fact. As a well-known 

 midland M.F.H. once put it to me : ' If you 

 run a fox more than ten minutes in this country, 

 the chances are that he is another.' But in 

 modern foxhunting certain and quick finds and sharp 

 bursts are delighted in. If the country and the pace 

 are good the objection to a ring is purely imaginary. 



