The Fox and his Ways 205 



he is quite willing should be trapped or shot for the 

 offence. Some things one hears from earth-stoppers are 

 quite suggestive of fairy-tales, but the cunning of a fox is 

 so well understood that it is quite easy to believe almost 

 anything. 



That the fox tracks rabbits by scent, as he himself 

 is tracked by the hounds, is shown by following both 

 their tracks over wet and muddy fallows or on snow. It is 

 from the rabbit, perhaps, that the fox learns many a trick, 

 for a rabbit can give even a fox points in dodging. If you 

 wish to see the prettiest exhibition of hound work in the 

 world, you should watch a pack of harriers or beagles fol- 

 lowing the line of puss. The proverbial Chinese puzzle is 

 easy in comparison. 



Of course no farmer with any self-respect would shoot 

 or trap a fox in a hunting country; on the contrary, 

 farmers are very proud of having a litter of cubs laid 

 upon their farms, and do all they can to protect them and 

 see that they are not disturbed. Every earth in a hunt- 

 ing district is known to the earth-stopper, and if a litter of 

 foxes known to have been laid on a certain farm is not 

 found there at cub-hunting time, it is a humiliating state of 

 things to the farmer who values the good opinion of the 

 county. When such things do happen in England, the 

 owner of the covert not at all infrequently sends to London 

 and buys a fox or two to turn loose in his covert just be- 

 fore they are to be drawn. Nothing could cause a farmer 

 more chagrin than the finding of a trap on his farm. 

 Altogether the fox is the most favoured and pampered wild 

 animal on the farm. 



