FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



whence he makes foraging expeditions to the 

 shore in search of sheU-fish and other marine 

 tit-bits. His feet are of the " hare " type, with 

 hard, shallow pads. Wherever you find him 

 whether on the South Downs or the Scottish 

 mountains his feet are the same, and that he can 

 use them to some purpose we all know. This, 

 to me, appears to be a perfect refutation of the 

 supposed utility of the round, " cat " foot of the 

 modern fox-hoimd of Peterborough type. A 

 " hare " foot in a hound shown at Peterborough 

 means absolute disqualification, yet the fox — 

 on whom it is a case of six to four in the majority 

 of runs — is a perfect example of the utility of the 

 ' ' hare " foot, for work on the sound grass country 

 of the Shires, oi the rocky, scree-strewn slopes of 

 the Westmorland and Cumberland fells. 



The fox is usually found abroad between the 

 hours of dusk and early dawn. He is influenced 

 by the weather, as well as the food supply. Ex- 

 cept in the breeding season he leads a solitary 

 exisence, and if the country is not too much dis- 

 turbed, he spends the greater portion of his time 

 above ground. In big woodlands, which are 

 seldom sufficiently hunted, and thus form safe 

 and quiet retreats, foxes often coUect in con- 

 siderable numbers. Each adult fox has its own 

 particular beat, inside the boundary of which it 

 knows every foot of ground. Roughly speaking, 

 such a beat may cover a five-mile radius, and a 

 fox driven beyond his boundary, wiU generally 

 run in a more or less aimless manner, and even 

 when pressed by hounds, wiU run past places 

 where he could easily get to ground and escape 

 them. The reason for this is I think, because a 

 fox does not see the country as we see it. From 

 a height of little more than 15 inches, the fox 



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