HUNTING THE FOX 223 



quickest man in the long run, as Will Goodall years 

 ago found out, is he who goes to fetch his hounds, 

 not the one who stands and blows till they are driven 

 on to him. 



One thing a fox must have is time : a terrier can 

 sometimes bowl him over when he first starts, a grey- 

 hound can hardly catch him when he is once in his 

 stride. I have been told of a habit of foxes that 

 have had experience of being hunted. This was 

 noticed by a late Master of Hounds and confirmed 

 by others when their attention was drawn to it. 

 The trick or method of escape was told to me thus : 

 ' If in a hilly country a fox goes away and when clear 

 of the hounds stops half-way up a hill and lies down, 

 and then waits till the hounds are as he thinks 

 near enough before he starts off, he will seldom 

 be caught. On the other hand, the fox that goes 

 right away and of course for the time being draws a 

 long distance ahead of the hounds, is far more likely 

 to be caught. The one economises his strength, 

 and later he is enabled to obtain the full advantage 

 of his superior condition, and thus to beat the hounds. 

 The pack when blown and tired cannot keep the 

 line, and thus it frequently happens that foxes do 

 not so much run hounds out of scent by placing a 

 long distance between themselves and the pack, as by 



