To the New Hunting Season
The midsummer fog slips unwillingly down the valley walls and deepens as it sinks into the valley floor, leaving fingers of lingering shreds in the recesses, and wisps on the branches of trees.
Much like its liquid counterpart, it flows around obstacles in its path, and moving objects leave a wake through the waves of opaqueness. So moves the fox in his daily routine, luxurious brush swaying back and forth in time with the lazy trot that carries him along, leaving his scent wafting backward in the liquid air.
In the kennel, the breeze carrying the ripples of scented air tickles the noses of the resting hounds, yanking them to their feet and sending aloft a chorus of protesting bays as they bounce along the kennel fence, begging to be set free to find the source of the scent-laden waft.
On the hill, the grazing horses lift their heads and gaze toward the kennel, knowing that hounds do not speak lightly but announce the presence of only important things. Seeing no immediate threat, they return to grazing but move closer together, ears flicking back and forth, seeking further information.
Fox and Terrier Are Best Friends
As in Disney’s movie, The Fox And The Hound, a Patterdale-Lakeland terrier cross and a fox cub have become the best of friends. The fox, called Rosie, was the lone survivor of her litter after the father killed the other cubs. She was rescued—eyes not yet open—hand reared, then taken in by Richard Bowler in […]
How Long Can a Red Fox Live?
Mary Marks photo
I believe that the ripest old age a tame fox might achieve is twelve. A wild, country fox could reach about eight. The governing factor, of course, apart from predators, is the fox’s teeth. No teeth, no food, no energy, and the end will be near, perhaps by scavenging dog or internal parasite—a death neither quick nor noble, and without Nature’s own equivalent of the National Health Service.
When I was hunting the Tiverton in Devon, the oldest fox caught by my hounds was aged six, according to that great naturalist Sir Newton Rycroft. It was the Tiverton’s first hunt in the New Forest, in 1975, and the fox’s incisors were long, very curved, and extremely dark—which prompted the discussion. The longer and more curved the teeth, the older the fox. Bob Street, who had disappeared into a bog during the excitement of the run, said that in forty years’ hunting it was one of the oldest he had seen hounds catch.
I’m Outta Here
Jane Ramsey from the Lewisville Hunt sent us this photo of a flying fox in a beautiful Pennsylvania landscape. It was snapped by her friend David Amos who hunts on foot with his camera.
A Holiday Hunt: Kudos to the Fox
The author, leading the field / Nancy Kleck photoMasters, staff, and field of the Blue Ridge Hunt are thankful for the recent Martin Luther King holiday. We always advance the meet from our usual Tuesday to any Monday holiday to give the juniors a chance to hunt. With the Virginia hunting country enveloped in sub-freezing arctic air on Tuesday, Monday’s “storybook” hunt—fifty-five minutes on one fox—was a special gift.
The meet was at Catherine Berger’s Rolling Hills Farm. Hounds found their fox in the first covert where it was viewed across the open fields by a car follower. Before horses were even warmed up, we found ourselves racing to the first fence—a brand-new, raw, double-wide coop standing high on its timbers.
Fox Pen Debate Continues in Virginia
The Virginia General Assembly brought opponents and proponents of fox penning together last February in an attempt to review the practice and work out a mutually acceptable set of rules. David Whitehurst of the Department of Game and Fisheries says that no compromise acceptable to each constituency was reached. The issue is expected to be […]
Pet Fox?
David Norman photo Whipper-in and pet fox out for a stroll? Not really. To capture this intriguing image, photographer David Norman used a long lens which foreshortened the perspective. The fox, he says, moved out smartly! Posted September 25, 2012
The Fox and the Bee
Drawing by Amy DoverUsing only graphite pencil, Amy Dover has attracted attention to her work throughout Great Britain. Her art has been widely exhibited and has inspired thoughtful and introspective articles in the media there. She focuses on animals, often depicting the dark side of their enduring battle against man and civilization. While many of […]
Fox Hood Ornament Fetches $204,750
A glass fox radiator ornament thought to be a Lalique knockoff and included with four other decorative foxes in a single lot caught the eyes of sharp-eyed connoisseurs. Rather than fetching the estimated $100 to $150 for the lot, it brought home $204,750 for the Pennsylvania-based auction house of Wiederseim Associates. The discovery of this […]
The Foxes of Cumbria
BorrowdaleIn the Lakeland District on the English/Scottish border, about four or five miles from Ambleside on the Hawkshead road is a T-junction. Turn right and the road ascends the shoulder of a small water-cut valley, finally reaching it’s destination at the Drunken Duck public house from whence a choice of routes beyond this story can be found.