FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



GiUard was huntsman to the Belvoir, his hounds 

 on one occasion killed a fox of ly^Yb. 



In " British Mammals" Mr. MiUais mentions 

 a hill-fox weighing 271b. Whilst this is an 

 enormous weight for a fox, it is possible that prior 

 to the introduction of foreign blood, certain hill- 

 foxes in remote districts may have reached a 

 weight of sotb., or at any rate very near it. Joe 

 Bowman, the veteran huntsman to the Ullswater, 

 says he has never killed so small a fox as one of iilb. 

 The smallest fox I have ever seen was run to 

 ground in a drain. It was a little vixen, and I 

 always regret not having weighed it, as I feel sure 

 it was not over iilb., if as much. Occasionally 

 a hunted fox takes refuge on a ledge in some crag, 

 or in Lakeland hunting parlance, he " binks." 

 Hounds generally manage to drive Reynard out 

 of such places, but sometimes a terrier comes in 

 handy too. 



On one occasion two couple of hounds belonging 

 to a fell pack had a very fast hunt with a fox, which 

 eventually beat thera by " binking." When we 

 arrived at the crag, an old hound was marking 

 steadily, but we could not see the fox. Leaving 

 my companion at the crag-foot, I went round and 

 out to the top, and then got into the crag-face. 

 On each side was a blaeberry covered ledge, con- 

 nected by a narrow strip of rock, below which 

 another small patch of blaeberry hid a crack in 

 the crag-face. The hounds had been on both the 

 larger ledges, and seemed to think the fox was 

 below them. Under the hidden crack there was 

 a straight drop of some thirty or forty feet to the 

 ground. I was looking about for a stone to drop 

 on top of the scrub covering the crack, when my 

 companion threw a terrier up on one of the 

 ledges. The dog at once winded the fox, and 



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