The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-02-04
yIRGINIAN FOX HUNTERS.
The Real Old English Sport Preserved and


Enjoyed.
di,pd,eh.to S,w York Tirxs.
We do net shoot foxes in Virginia.
That seems 10 DO the established way Of
ending fox hunt in Maine, but in Vir.
ginia fox hunting is real old English
sport. A Virgiuian would scorn pack
OF hounds that cpud not catch fox, and
think them only fit to be Hanged.
Down here We have both the red and
gray foxes In abundance-more this Fall
and Winter than usual. The gray fox
Is more numerous and oftener caught,
but occasionally the hun'smen bring In
red fox. It Is ,aro thing to hear OF a
fox being shot by any one. ltReynard
becomes troublesome by raiding on the
farmers pigs, lambs or fowls, the farmer
sends word to the nearest huntsmen to
come and catch the fox that Is preying
upon him, and the first damp morning
thereafter the huntsmen and hounds are
very apt to be there about break OF day.
Some years tho foxes In Il neighborhood
seem almost exterminated, and then the
very next year there are great many.
This past season the buntsmen about
here have caught great many.
The fox Is tho most cunning creature
alive. do believe they are up to all
sorts OF lodges for GLIDING the dogs. A
famous way with them is 10 run on n
fence, which they can easily do with US.
the old.iashioned rail worm fence still
prevailing to large extent. have
very often seen them running around on
our orchard fence, and they looked SO
pretty and graceful that l could not
bring myself TO tell the huntsmen when
they came up which way they had gone.
| could not help wishing they would
escape and assisting them that much in
their run for life.
Hounds, though, after hunting n sea-
son learn this trick, and when they come
to fence after losing the trail will smell
at it until they are assured which way
the fox has taken. Another clever
dodge OF Reynard is to run in among n
flock OF sheep, and not onlj is the scent
lost, but the sheep run wildly about and
thus distract the dogs minds. 1t takes
pretty .tanch and well.trained pack
not to be thrown out by this ruse, at
least Tor II time, OF which the cunning
fox is making good use in putting long
distance between him and his pursucrs.
Very often foxes run up tres, but
when they do this they are very closely
pressed, and it is almost a forlorn hope,
for they do not often escape death in this
way. 1t is generally only reprieve Of
few minutes from the dreadful fate OF
being torn to pieces by pack Of eager
hounds. Often, too, they run in holes.
When the fox runs to earth"-in hunt
ing parlauce-the hunters send to the
nearest farmer and borrow a hoe or pick
aud endeaver to dig out their victim.
Sometimes they catch the foxes alive,
and then they bring them home and put
them in Il room and keep them until
the next day, when, if they have not
managed to effect an escape, they are
turned out and another days sport is
assured. They always give them good
start, then put the dogs on their trail,
and off they 70 in full cry, for this is
what they call very shot trail" Sew
eral times when my father, in the old
days, caught them and put them in one
OF our cellar rooms they have made good
their escape by making lunge through
pane OF glass, leaving the shattered
glass as souvenir Of their prison life.
Fox hunting has always been n sport
much iHdulged in by the country gen.
tlemen OF Virginia even from its early
settlement. For some years after the
civil war, though, there were only a few
who kept hounds in each neighborhood
they we're most Of them too poor to
keep hounds. Now it is becoming quite
the fashion, and many affect a iondness
for it, even if they haven't it. The city
gentlemen are forming fox.hunting clubs.
They have such club in Lynchburg,
Va, established not long since. Ladies
sometimes 80 hunting. but our country
about here is far too billy and mountain
GUS and too thickly covered with forests
and underground TO make tia pleasure.
1t is no place for riding habits. Even
the open country is all up and down
hill, except on the low grounds, and it is
not often that a fox will 60 to such
convenient place as that.
Agenuine lover of fox hunting never
tires, even if he goes day after day with.
out starting fox, and will 90 out Just
as hopefully the first damp morning as
though success had crowned each days
hunt. OF all sporting, fox hunting is,
Think, dearest to the sportsmen's hearts.
They are more enthusiastic than any
other sportsmen have ever seen. One
thing is greatly in its favor, and that is
its healthfulness, for they cannot hunt
in falling weather or windy weather, or
even il it is very cold -cold enough for
the ground to be frozen, for the dogs
feet then get cut 80 they cannot run.
Another merit it has, in this country, is
its protection to the farmers pigs, lambs
and poultry, for when there are no
hunds the foxes soon become very bold,
often snatching up chicken or turkey
out OF your very yard and in the broad
daytime This, / think, is one OF the
strongest arguments in favor OF the old
snort of fox hunting in Vir-