FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



the foumarts captured in Wales are taken in the 

 neighbourhood of water, for the polecat is of a 

 thirsty nature, and has a partiality for frogs which 

 inhabit damp places. 



The foumart is easy to trap, and it is owing to 

 its unsuspicious nature that it has been exter- 

 minated in many English districts where once it 

 was plentiful. In France polecats are common, 

 and when in that country we saw a fair number 

 of specimens which had been trapped on the 

 farms. The French keepers whom we met in 

 Nieppe Forest told us that both martens and 

 polecats were quite common there. Likewise 

 near Fort Mahon on the coast we came across an 

 old keeper who said that he often trapped them. 

 In pre-war days large quantities of polecat skins 

 from the Continent reached the Ivondon fur sales. 

 In the trade polecat fur is known as fitch. Oc- 

 casionally ferrets escape and lead a wild existence. 

 Some of the so-called polecats reported from 

 time to time are really nothing more than feral 

 ferrets of the dark foumart colour. The foumart 

 breeds in May or June, having from three to five 

 young ones in a litter. The young are generally 

 laid down in some rabbit hole, or amongst rocks 

 and crevices. Being quite a good swimmer the 

 polecat has no hesitation in crossing rivers. 



In the old days foumart hunting was a popular 

 sport in lyakeland. At one time quite a number 

 of packs of foumart hounds were in existence. 

 One of the most widely known establishments 

 was the Rev. Hilton Wybergh's of Isel. Other 

 packs were kept at Wigton, Aspatria, and Carlisle. 

 The late Mr. James Fleming Green kept a pack at 

 Grasmere with Anthony Chapman as his hunts- 

 man. Otter hounds were used for hunting fou- 

 marts, but the old lyancashire foumart hounds 



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