FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



again he may not, so he is deserving of at least one 

 chance to redeem his reputation. Foxes, Uke 

 human beings, no doubt have their good and bad 

 days. At any rate, many an one that has taken 

 refuge almost at once, has, on being bolted, got 

 clean away after affording a first rate hunt. 

 There are foxes of course which will not run, but 

 persist in crawling about, and then going to 

 ground. A fox which escapes hounds on his 

 initial venture by adopting a certain plan, will, 

 when again hunted, have resort to the same 

 plan. Short-running, drain-haunting foxes are 

 much better killed, for they afford no sport and 

 are often responsible for a good deal of damage 

 in their immediate neighbourhood. 



It is as a rule wise to bolt a fox from a drain, 

 even if he has afforded you a fast, straight run, 

 because certain drains are veritable death-traps 

 to foxes. When hounds have been trotted away 

 to fresh covert, somebody can be left to do the 

 job, and it may mean the saving of one or more 

 good foxes to the Hunt. 



Foxes which follow one another into narrow 

 drains often have great difficulty in getting out 

 again. The result is, they either starve to death, 

 or a sudden flood submerges them. I have on 

 several occasions seen two and three foxes bolted 

 from a drain, but there is a record of six foxes 

 making their appearance from such a retreat. 

 In one drain, no less than thirteen carcasses of 

 foxes were found, the animals having perished 

 miserably underground. 



As a rule there is little difficulty in bolting a 

 fox out of a drain, for the passage is generally 

 fairly straight, and an opening can be made behind 

 the fox. If however the terrier is unable to shift 

 him, he can generally be dug up to, and so secured. 



io8 



