General Remarks. 103 



cries ; such a tumult may get foxes on foot, but 

 also puts birds on wing. 



The cry of the hunting man is for old foxes in 



preference to youngsters bred the season before, 



the former being supposed to possess a knowledge 



of the country-side which enables them to run 



better, but young foxes appeal more to the 



shooting man. When a fox has managed to 



survive a couple of seasons he has acquired a 



store of knowledge certainly, but this enables him 



to outwit hounds by cunning rather than by pace. 



On the other hand, foxes of less experience have 



no accumulation of cunning to draw upon, they 



know considerably less of the country, and as their 



only idea of escaping is by outpacing hounds they 



generally afford a good run and blood to the pack 



at its termination. The old fox in many instances 



gets to ground safely, and hounds are discouraged 



thereby. As explained elsewhere, it is the old fox 



which does the greatest damage amongst gamic, 



and a leash of them are capable of far more harm 



than double the number of youngsters. 



Hunting men look askance on any project for 

 preserving foxes which interferes in the least 

 degree with the animals' liberty, saying that once 

 they sanction such procedure there is no telling 

 where it will end. Without recommending the 



