EARTH STOPPING, ARTIFICIAI. EARTHS, &c. 



sport in those days, and men shot only when 

 there was a hard frost and hounds were confined 

 to kennels. Gradually however the old order 

 changed, and the earth-stopper's duties were 

 merged into those of the keepers on the various 

 estates. As game preserving became popular, 

 the guardians of the woods objected to the pres- 

 ence of the earth-stopper in their domains, and 

 so he and his kind were ousted from their job. 

 The move was a bad one as far as hunting was 

 concerned. The earth-stopper was a specialist, 

 who was all for hunting, and he performed his 

 task conscientiously. The keeper on the other 

 hand, with his multifarious duties, grudges the 

 time spent in stopping, with the result that the 

 work is often shirked, and foxes either get in or 

 are stopped in. Certainly a wet and windy night 

 may hold out little incentive for a walk, at an hour 

 when most folks are asleep in their beds ; but if 

 the keeper wishes to do his duty he must ignore 

 both sleep and weather. The proper hour for 

 stopping is between half-past ten and midnight. 

 The fox is not altogether regular in his habits, 

 but roughly speaking he is abroad from dusk till 

 dawn, depending on the state of the weather, and 

 the convenience of his food supply. In mild 

 weather, foxes, particularly those of the male 

 sex, may be found above ground at all hours of 

 the day. 



In the new order of things, the head-keeper 

 relegates the job of stopping to his underlings. 

 The latter make a pretence of stopping the main 

 earth, but ignore the large rabbit burrows, which 

 foxes use even more than the earth in time of 

 danger; therefore should hounds find, the fox, 

 if he is a bad one, will go to ground at once. 

 Keepers are only human after all, and have 



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