“Lost Hound” by Jane Gaston: illustration from the
book of the same name by Robert AshcomAll foxhunters know that a lost foxhound on the road is a situation that cannot be ignored. There are many possible outcomes, most of them bad. In fact, Jerry Miller, MFH of the Iroquois Hunt (KY) announces to all his members that if they see a lost hound and get it safely back to kennels in their car, he will personally pay for a complete car cleaning! It’s often not an easy job to coax a lost hound into your vehicle, as anyone knows who has tried it. Here’s a story of how one clever woman did it.
A puppy walking out on exercise went after a squirrel one rainy day, got separated from the pack, and couldn’t find its way back. This woman was driving down a four lane divided highway and spotted two ladies who had gotten out of their Range Rover. They were trying to get a dog to come to them that they said was loose. Upon closer view, our woman could see it was a foxhound. In her own words:
“The two ladies were trying to lure the hound to them with pretzels, the only food they had, but to no avail. It was raining, and the hound wouldn’t get close enough to smell food or a biscuit! He was shy and ran into the trees when I approached, so I walked toward where he had disappeared, praying I wasn’t walking in poison ivy.
“As I did the first time I successfully captured a loose hound, I cusped my hand to make the sound of a horn and blew a long note and a couple of short ones. Lo and behold, out comes the hound’s head! I kept blowing and he started toward me. As he got closer, say twenty feet, I started to talk to him. He kept crawling toward me wagging his stern. As he got to my feet, he rolled over and wanted me to rub his belly! I had a leash and double loop collar in the car just for the occasion, and after he was secured I checked his ears. He was indeed one of our hounds. Turns out he was a puppy, but a big boy. The ladies helped me get him into my car. Hounds are heavy buggers!
“I brought him to the kennels and learned that the huntsman was out looking for him. The poor pup was soaking wet but otherwise in good shape. Even our Master had received a call that a hound had been seen crossing the highway. Yikes!
“The point of my little story is the use of the faux horn. That is what stopped both of them and made them come. Otherwise, this last young fellow might have stayed back in the trees and disappeared again. I wanted to share this in the hope it might save another hound somewhere.”
Posted July 23, 2013