PRESERVING FOXES. 333 



The nature of a country has a ijreat deal to say to the 

 merits of its foxes from a huntini^ point of view. When they 

 Hve in places which afford them plenty of food and shelter, 

 like the Cheshire dingles (narrow wooded valleys), they adopt 

 a stay-at-home policy, and give no long runs ; because they are 

 out of mental and physical condition, and do not know the lie 

 of the land. Even in a good country, turned down foxes do 

 not acquire a knowledge of it, until they have gone through 

 a season of " travelling," which is the term applied to the 

 long excursions which a fox makes to visit a vixen. A 

 travelling fox is the one for a " point," especially when he is a 

 long distance from home. " Turned down " cubs are those 

 which are taken from their home, to a strange place,, and left 

 to their own devices to become naturalised subjects. 



It appears that nowadays, foxes in the Midlands run 

 shorter than formerly, chiefly no doubt on account of the great 

 increase of railways and spectators on foot, in carriages and 

 on bicycles. Passing trains do not head foxes so much as 

 plate-layers and other workmen on the line. 



Captain King-King gives me the following notes on pre- 

 serving foxes : " The ambition to preserve foxes is a most 

 laudable one in a resident of a hunting country, and can as a 

 rule be easily attained, if a suitable covert is available. The 

 chief conditions which are required in a covert for this purpose 

 are — that it should be in a retired situation, and well away 

 from roads and footpaths, and that it should contain rabbits. 

 If the owner succeeds a shooting man who was no friend to 

 the chase, one of the first things he should do is to get rid of 

 the keeper ; for it is as difficult to try to reform a vulpicide 

 keeper, as it is to reclaim a sheep-worrying dog. With a 

 new man h^: should begin as he means to go on. He can do 

 some shooting, and to give the keeper an interest in the work, 

 he may even rear a few pheasants, hatched under hens from 

 eggs taken from the wild nests. A tarred string round the 



