HUNTING DIRECTORY. 201 



Of Diseased or Mangy Cubs. 



had made their escape by making a hole in the sack in 

 which they Mere brought, lived, and showed excellent 

 sport. If the cubs are large, you may turn them out 

 immediately : — a large earth will be the best for that pur- 

 pose, where they shovdd l)e regularly fed with rabbits, 

 birds, or sheep's henges, whichever you can most con- 

 veniently get. I believe, when a fox is once tainted, he 

 never recovers it. The weather being remarkably hot, 

 those that I kept irrmy fox court (which at that time 

 was a very close one) all died, one after the other, of the 

 same disorder. 



" Where rabbits are plentiful, iiature will soon teach 

 them how to catch the young ones ; and, till that period 

 of abundance arrives, it may be necessary to provide 

 food for them. Where game is scarce, wet weather will 

 be most favourable to them : they can then live on bee- 

 tles, chaffers, worms, &c. which they will find great 

 plenty of. I think the morning is the best time to turn 

 them out : if turned out in the evening, they will be more 

 likely to r;imble ; but if turned out early, and fed on the 

 earth, I think there is little doubt of their remaining 

 there. I also recommend to you to turn them into large 

 covers and strong earths: out of small earths they are 

 more liable to be stolen, and from small covers are more 

 likely to wander away. Your gamekeepers, at this time 

 of the year, having little else to do, may feed and take 

 care of them. When you stop any of these earths, re- 

 member to have them opened again, as I have reason to 

 think I lost some young foxes one year by not doing it. 

 For your own satisfaction, put a private mark on every 

 fox which you turn out, tbat you may know him again. 



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