THE FOX 93 



and needless to say it is only possible in small 

 coverts. 



If foxes are not gifted with reason, they have 

 a cunning instinct which answers the same pur- 

 pose. They know at once the sounds which 

 herald the approach of the hunt, and a veteran 

 will often leave a covert when the cavalcade is two 

 or three miles away ; but he reasons that on 

 previous occasions when he heard those same 

 sounds before, he had a very narrow escape, and 

 he therefore now accepts the warning to flee in 

 good time. 



I remember a certain day, one very dry cub- 

 hunting season, when there was neither scent in 

 covert or out, and it was quite hopeless expecting 

 to hunt a cub to death. Hounds, however, 

 marked a fox to ground in an artificial earth, 

 and this seemed an excellent opportunity of 

 getting blood, which it would be impossible to 

 attain by other means. The whips were left in 

 charge of the pack some distance away, whilst 

 the huntsman and myself set about the task of 

 eviction. I put the terrier in the earth, and a 

 few seconds later a beautiful fox was noosed by 

 the huntsman's whip, but as there was still 



