9 8 



Fox -Hunting in New England. 



long he has been gone, and whether it is worth your while to allow 

 the dogs to follow his trail ; and you are enabled to help the hounds in 

 puzzling places, though a dog of wisdom and experience seldom needs 



TANTALIZING THE DOGS. 



help, except for the saving of time. A calm day is always best, and 

 if warm enough for the snow to pack without being at all "sposhy," 

 so much the better. Though it is difficult to " start" a fox during a 

 heavy snow-fall, if you do start him, he is pretty certain to " play " 

 beautifully, seeming to reckon much on the obliteration of his track 

 by the falling snow. At such times he will often circle an hour in the 

 compass of two or three acres. Glare ice holds scent scarcely more 

 than water. This, no one knows better than the fox, and you may 

 be sure he will now profit by this knowledge if naked ice can be 

 found. He will also run in the paths of the hare, pick his way care- 

 fully along rocky ridges swept bare of snow by the wind, leaving no 

 visible trace of his passage, and, at times, take to traveled highways. 

 If the snow is deep and light so that he sinks into it, he will soon, 

 through fatigue or fear of being caught, take refuge in den or 



