24 FOX-HUNTING IN NEW ENGLAND 



they have ceased to require the care of their 

 mother, and then disperse. The habits above 

 mentioned are common to the cross and silver 

 foxes as well as the red fox. 



And now for the hunt. From his helpless baby- 

 hood in leafless April, Reynard has come, by the 

 middle of the autumn, to months of discretion and 

 to a large and increasing capacity for taking care 

 of himself. The weapons are double-barrel shot- 

 guns of such weight and caliber as may suit the 

 individual fancy. A very light gun will not do the 

 execution at the long range sometimes required, 

 while, on the other hand, a very heavy one will 

 become burdensome in the long tramps that may 

 be necessary; for a man of ordinary strength, 

 an eight-pound gun will be found quite heavy 

 enough. It should be of a caliber which will prop- 

 erly chamber its full charge of, at least, BB shot 

 for I hold that the force of lighter shot will be 

 broken by the thick fur of the fox; indeed I would 

 suggest still heavier pellets, say BBB, or even A. 



Our hounds, not so carefully bred as they 

 should be, cannot be classed in any particular 

 breed. They are more like the old Southern fox- 

 hound, than like the modern English; and for our 

 purpose are incomparably superior to the latter. 

 They are not fleet, like him (fleetness here being 

 objectionable, as will be shown), but of great 

 endurance, and unsurpassable scenting powers 



