FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



A few couple of fell hounds generally jQnd their 

 way to one or other of the adjoining Otter Hunts 

 during the summer months. Many of our fell 

 hounds are quite as useful for the chase of the 

 "sly, goose-footed prowler" as they are for 

 hunting fox, and so certain of them are eagerly 

 sought after by Masters of Otter Hounds who 

 know their value. A fell hound can own a drag 

 and swim an otter with the best of the rough otter 

 hounds, and though he may not throw his tongue 

 in quite so deep and sonorous a manner as the 

 true otter hound he suffers less from the effects 

 of the long immersion in water, and kills his otter 

 more quickly than his rough-coated cousin. 

 Rough otter hounds most certainly provide a 

 * ' band of music," but you want something more 

 than noise to kill an otter. The rough sort are 

 always inclined to "babble" and dwell on 

 scent, whereas the foxhounds push on, and as you 

 have to find your otter before you can hunt him, 

 the sooner your hounds come to a solid mark or 

 put him down the better. In the old days when 

 Bobby Troughton hunted his famous pack it 

 was customary to get away early in the morning, 

 so as to be sure of striking a warm drag. Al- 

 though the scent of an otter lies for a long time 

 in damp, shady places, it will, like the scent of 

 the fox, disappear under the drying influence of 

 the sun. The man who makes an early start 

 will find his otter more quickly than he who 

 meets at nine or ten o'clock, and he will kill more 

 otters, and show better sport. People tell you 

 that as many otters are killed nowadays as when 

 it was the custom to meet early, but there are 

 many more otter hound packs than there used to 

 be. Time and again have we heard hounds 

 speak to an occasional touch here and there, and 



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