FELL HOUNDS 



horn and voice freely one can get hounds to break 

 up nearly any sort of quarry, but even amongst 

 south-country hounds there are certain of them 

 which take little or no interest m the final 

 "worry." 



In some hunting countries both at home and 

 abroad the huntsman and his whippers-in may 

 experience considerable difficulty in preventing 

 hounds from running riot. Where there are big 

 woodlands it is often quite impossible to get at 

 the offenders and administer the necessary 

 " hiding." On the open fells of the north, hares 

 or an occasional deer may tempt certain hounds 

 from the line of their legitimate quarry. When 

 this happens the whip is promptly administered 

 to the culprits with the result that their infatua- 

 tion for fur generally ceases. There are times 

 however, luckily few and far between, when 

 hounds suddenly run riot amongst the little 

 Herdwick sheep which are scattered about the 

 hills. A disaster of this kind is the worst that 

 can happen to a fell pack, for once a hound or 

 hounds take a fancy to mutton on the hoof, death 

 is the only cure for the offenders. Should the 

 huntsman or any other responsible person witness 

 such a contretemps, he will recognise the actual 

 ring-leaders, but there are times when hounds run 

 riot and no one is near, so making it extremely 

 difficult to convict all the culprits. Stern 

 measures are necessary, and the innocent may 

 suffer with the guilty, but it is better to do away 

 with any suspects rather than let the entire 

 pack become imbued with an unholy taste for 

 mutton. The majority of puppies belonging to 

 the fell packs are walked on farms, where they 

 very soon learn that sheep are tabu, and so when 



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