FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



the heap, as there may be another fox in the 

 latter, and he may come in useful later in the 

 day. If rabbits get into the heap, as they some- 

 times do, the easiest way to get rid of them is 

 to set up a fence of wire netting round it, leaving 

 a single entrance. The presence of the netting 

 will make the foxes temporarily vacate their 

 quarters, and the rabbits can then be trapped at 

 the entrance to the wire enclosure. An earth of 

 this description is much better than a piped or 

 flagged one, being more natural, and if well made 

 it will last for quite twenty years, so long as the top 

 layer of thorns is occasionally renewed. 



For real sport however, there is nothing to beat 

 wild foxes in a wild country, where artificial 

 earths are unheard of. All you need do with 

 your foxes is to let 'em alone in summer, and 

 hunt 'em hard in winter, taking care to work your 

 big woodlands thoroughly, for they are apt to 

 become fox sanctuaries if left too much undis- 

 turbed. 



We are all familiar with the outbreaks of mange 

 reported from time to time, and the cause of it is 

 the filthy manner in which both cubs and adult 

 foxes are imported for re-stocking purposes. 

 Fox dealers abroad especially and certain persons 

 in this country keep foxes in dark, evil-smelling 

 holes, where disease is rampant, and the smell 

 would knock you down. Is it any wonder there- 

 fore, that such foxes, turned down amongst the 

 wild stock, at once contaminate the latter, and 

 the repulsive disease spreads like wild fire ? No 

 one win ever make me believe that over-stocking — 

 if such a thing were to happen — is productive 

 of mange. Certainly foxes are plentiful in some 

 districts, but never so numerous as to cause 

 mange by over-crowding. In the Shires, the 



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