CHAPTER XXVIII 



Enemies of the Game-rearer, and how to deal 

 WITH THEM {continued) 



The Fox ( Vulpes Vulgaris) 



Foremost amongst all enemies that the game-rearer has to 

 contend against, particularly in hunting counties, stands the 

 Fox, which, as stated in a preceding chapter, has to be 

 preserved as much as the game — in fact, even more so, as 

 shooting, viewed in the light of the true sportsman, must 

 rank second to that of fox-hunting. Any form of sport 

 into which an element of danger enters must have pre- 

 cedence over one unaccompanied by risks of any kind. In 

 non-hunting localities, the gamekeeper usually finds a ready 

 means of clearing out Reynard, either by trapping or by 

 shooting, and failing the adoption of either plan, by poison. 

 From time to time the author has had Foxes sent to him 

 which have been found dead by keepers, with a view to 

 ascertaining the cause of death. It is a most unfortunate 

 occurrence for a gamekeeper to find Foxes either dead or 

 dying upon an estate over which he has charge of the game 

 preserves. In one instance, fox-poisoning extended over a 

 period of ten years, which was anything but a pleasant 

 coincidence for the head-keeper, as members of the hunt 

 commonly associate such deaths with the preservation of 

 game. In the case alluded to, the gamekeeper was as 

 anxious to find the culprit as the master of the hunt, 

 and spared neither time nor expense to solve the problem, 

 which so far was solved. As a rule, strychnine is the drug 



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