204 HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Mciliod of Drawing a Fox. 



reasons for every tiling he does, though we are not 

 always acquainted with them. 



" Huntsmen, when they get near the fox, will some- 

 times put a hound in to draw him. This is, however, a 

 cruel operation, and seldom answers any other purpose 

 than to occasion the dog a bad bite, the fox's head gene- 

 rally being towards him ; besides, a few minutes digging 

 will make it unnecessary. If you let the fox first seize 

 your whip, the hound will draw him more readily. 



" You should not encourage badgers in your woods : 

 they make strong earths, which will be expensive and 

 troublesome to you to stop, or fatal to your sport if 

 you do not. You, without doubt, remember an old 

 Oxford toast : 



" Hounds stouf, and horses healthy, 

 Earths welt slopj/d, and foxes plenty. 



All certainly very desirable to a fox-hunter; yet I 

 apprehend the earths stopped to be the most necessary ; 

 for the others, without that, would be useless. Besides, 

 I am not certain that earths are the safest places for 

 foxes to breed in ; for frequently, when poachers cannot 

 dig them, they will catch the young foxes in trenches, 

 dug at the mouth of the hole, which I believe they call 

 timning them. A few large earths near to your house 

 are certainly desirable, as they will draw the foxes thither, 

 and, after a long day, will sometimes bring you home. 



" If foxes are bred in an earth which you think unsafe, 

 yovi had better stink them out : that, or indeed any dis- 

 turbance at the mouth of the hole, Avill make the old one 

 carry them off to another place. 



