FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



a larger area. Game preserving was then un- 

 heard of, and individual foxes had wider beats, 

 for they often had to travel long distances, both 

 in search of food, and on love-making expeditions 

 in spring. The supply of foxes, meagre though 

 it was, consisted of wild, healthy animals, and 

 disease was unknown. The fox of the Shires 

 was then much more akin to his mountain-bred 

 cousin than he is to-day, and individual foxes 

 often provided extremely long runs. 



In the course of time, the country became 

 more and more enclosed. The old, slow style 

 of fox-hunting gave way to the modern, quick 

 method, and foxes were imported to augment the 

 local stock. Coverts were planted for Reynard's 

 special benefit, and everything was done to make 

 the countryside attractive to foxes. The con- 

 sequence was, the stock increased tremendously, 

 and that dread scourge mange began to make its 

 appearance. This was owing to the importation 

 of diseased foxes from abroad, transported in 

 filthy crates. The original stock of foxes grad- 

 ually became crossed with the new, to the detri- 

 ment of their size, courage, and stamina. As the 

 stock increased, in-breeding naturally followed, 

 until to-day the fox of the Shires is a smaller, 

 redder, and less enterprising animal than his 

 relations in the north. With the advent of 

 intensive game preservation, difficulties arose 

 between shooting and hunting interests. Vixens 

 mysteriously disappeared, and cubs were reared 

 by hand, often in extremely filthy surroundings. 

 The result was, the older vixens, so vital to the 

 proper education of the cubs, became practically 

 extinct in certain districts, and to-day there 

 are countries where a genuine wild fox is hardly 

 ever kiUed. I^uckily such countries are few and 



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