164 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. xx. 



before it can take wing-. One night, seven of my domesticated 

 wild ducks were taken from the poultry-yard, close to the house. 

 After some search, we found some of the birds concealed in dif- 

 ferent places in the adjoining fields, where the fox had buried 

 them, not having time to carry them all to his earth that night. 

 He fell a victim to his greediness, however, being caught in a 

 trap a few nights afterwards. 



A fox, after he has lost one of his feet in a trap, is still able to 

 get his own living, and to keep himself in as good plight as if he 

 had his whole complement of legs effective. One, which had left 

 a foot in a trap, and escaped on the other three, lived for two 

 years afterwards about the same ground. We knew his track in 

 the sand by the impression of his stump. This winter, while 

 shooting in the sandhills, we saw a fox sneak quietly into a small 

 thicket of trees. I immediately placed the two sportsmen who 

 were with me at different points of the thicket, and then took my 

 retriever on the track. The dog, who, from his former battles 

 with fox and otter, is very eager in his enmity against all animals 

 of the kind, almost immediately started the fox, and, after a short 

 chace, turned him out within shot of a very sure gun. The con- 

 sequence was the instant death of Mr. Reynard. On examining, 

 he turned out to be the very fox whose foot had been naild up 

 two years before. He was an immense old dog-fox, in perfect con- 

 dition, although he had only three legs to hunt on. The fox is 

 a constant attendant on the rabbit-trapper, robbing him of most 

 of the rabbits that are caught in his traps or snares. He some- 

 times, however, pays dearly, by getting caught in the wires ; ami 

 although he generally breaks the snare and escapes, does not do 

 so without most severe punishment. I shot a fox this season who 

 had the remains of a rabbit-wire round his hind leg, which was 

 cut to the bone by his struggles to escape. 



When living in Ross-shire, I went one morning in July before 

 daybreak, to endeavour to shoot a stag, who had been conr.- 

 plained of very much by an adjoining farmer, as having done 

 great damage to his crops. Just after it was daylight, I saw a 

 large fox come very quietly along the edge of the plantation in 

 which I was concealed ; he looked with great care over the turf- 

 wall into the field, and seemed to long very much to get hold 

 of some hares that were feeding in it but apparently knew that 



