THE HILI. FOX 



motley pack. Although these dogs were fast, 

 the fox frequently escaped them in the rough 

 ground. A sharp cur dog can catch a fox if he 

 gets away close to its brush, and a terrier has been 

 known to do so ere now, but once the fox manages 

 to avoid the first rush at close quarters, he can 

 escape anything on four legs on hill-ground. 



Even in districts where he is looked upon as an 

 outlaw, the fox receives a certain measure of pro- 

 tection, from the fact that he is more valuable 

 alive than dead. Many a fox in a non-hunting 

 country is taken uninjured, to be disposed of in a 

 district where fresh blood is required. If his 

 value is apparent even in non-hunting districts, 

 how much more so is it in countries where money 

 is disbursed locally right and left in the interests 

 of sport. The economic value of the fox is great, 

 and is increasing yearly ; and without him, the 

 money now distributed in certain channels, would 

 not find its way into the same pockets. 



Although m this country the outlaw fox is 

 worth comparatively little to the man who kills 

 him, the reverse is the case in those countries 

 where he is hunted for his fur. 



There have been great changes m English 

 country-life of late years, and in certain hunting 

 districts the fox is perhaps not held in quite such 

 high esteem by all parties as heretofore. Still, 

 there is no getting away from the fact that 

 Reynard's economic value is greater now than 

 ever it was. In pre-war days it cost a sovereign 

 to shoot a pheasant, and the price has risen since 

 then, but the value of each pheasant accounted for 

 to-day can bear no comparison with the cost 

 required to kill a fox in the Shires. 



In mountain districts, it is not uncommon to 



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