THE HUNTED FOX 113 



has a range of his own, they are kept within narrower 

 limits. Besides this, a fox has not to work quite so 

 hard for his living as he had formerly. Thus, while 

 the actual fact of being hunted is no new factor in 

 the fox's life, the preservation of foxes necessary 

 for hunting has modified the struggle for existence, 

 has made life easier and diminished the dangers and 

 anxieties inherent in the existence of a beast of prey. 

 We can see the evidence of this in the modern fox, 

 less shy and evasive than his predecessors, or than 

 he is in those countries where he is still regarded as 

 vermin. 



There is one topic of great interest with regard to 

 hunted foxes that must not be passed over. This is 

 scent. It would be going outside the limits of my 

 present topic to discuss the problems of scent, or to 

 recount the various theories which have been pro- 

 pounded to account for the presence or absence of it 

 on particular days or in certain places. The point 

 with which we have to deal is the result to the fox 

 himself of the scent which he leaves. I have no theory 

 on scent to propound in this case : I am only dealing 

 with facts. The first thing to be noted is that a 

 rank odour is diffused by most of the race of foxes. 

 It varies not only from species to species but from 

 individual to individual. All the varieties of our 



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