150 THE FOX 



1 streakers ' or lurchers. One passage will show us 

 at least that the hunted fox is the same everywhere. 

 The fox is described as coming leisurely along, sitting 

 down, and listening to the cry of the hounds just as 

 we have seen him do in the Midlands. But in the 

 Highlands the fox is shot without mercy when the 

 hounds have driven him past the ambush of his 

 enemies, or the terriers bolted him from his den» 

 Another plan is to put down a bait (hare or cat a 

 little gamey, or a bit of honeycomb, is the most 

 attractive), and then for the hunter to conceal himself 

 behind a rock within sight and gunshot. I think 

 that it is not generally known how partial the fox 

 is to cats. Probably in old times when the wild 

 cat was comparatively common in Scotland and else- 

 where the fox robbed the cat of its kittens in its 

 absence, for no fox would ever have tackled a wild 

 cat, which is the larger and more powerful animal of 

 the two. 



But there is no doubt that the fox does hunt and 

 destroy the domestic cat, and it is possible that foxes 

 may be of some service in keeping down the half-wild 

 cats which are noted for their destructiveness in game- 

 coverts. But the most carefully laid ambush is some- 

 times defeated by the cunning of the fox, which will 

 circle unseen round the bait, and if a whiff of his 



