The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-26
Wherein it Differs from
the Chase in
The Mother Country

| of which not many nimrods can boast.
| not be questioned. He was hunting rab-
/ bits and with him was favorite hound
| The dog was heard coming toward the
hunter about a quarter of mile away.
| and the rabbit came into view from
| a patch of scrub oaks, covering the
! ground in great leaps as he was driven
/ aiens by the dog, which was not more
| than twenty rods in the read. The hunt
| er then received shock from which he
/ has not yet recovered. Suddenly from
| behind stone wall there jumped a hand
| some red dog fox. in fine fur, with a
| magnificent brush. He had seen the
rabbit and was anxious for meal, and in
a second he was exerting every muscle
to overhaul the rabbit. Not six rods
behind the fox was the dog, both on
| the same trail. The rabbit seemed to
] suddenly dove in his hole in a clump
| of briars close to stone wall The
/ fox reached the hole several seconds
| before the dog, and was shifting arounI
| happened SO quickly that the fox was
/ beWldered, He started with rush to
| enter the burroW of the rabbit. Alasi
it was too small, and Reynard had made
| a fatal mistake. The dog secured q
good hold and the death struggle was
| sooE over.
A good dog is remarkably tenacious
! when on the trail OF fox. 1t is not I'M
common for an ord nary farm dog, strik
! ing a trail near the farm buildings, to
run fox all night and to come home
| disconSolate next morning. A highbred
| dog has been known to run one fox all
| day. all night and all the next day, stop
| ping only when so tired and footsore
| that he could hardly walk A fox is
| takes surprising amount of killing.
One of the foxes that escaped in the
recent hunt at Westfield had regular
| fusillade fired at him. One hunter had
CHI fh0f hn cd
| the fox down three times but he picked
away. A fox with leg broken can give
a pack a very respectable run, though
his instinct leads him to seek his hole
when wounded. Many a dead fox has
been dug out of his burrow.
A great many "tall'' foX-hunting stories
might be told-and are told when hunters
get together but the facts in case where
a fox is concerned are apt to be good
enough without establishment One of
Westfield hunt was the veteran John
White, of Sutton. who is one of the
most experienced and skillful of the fox
hunters of the Worcester district. He is
a part owner of the Kinaey-White pack
of hounds, which are among. the best In
the state. John-so everybody calls him
took the biting wind and the binding
snow very calmly and with the philoso-
ply of one who has spent many half
day waiting for the fox that never came
prepared to make himself comfortable in
a coy nook sheltered by, clump of
trees and a stone wall where he could
command a clear view of the sloping
clearing that was one of his favorite
runways. Encouraging bursts of music
qui vive for a time, but finally the chase
swept around the mountain, and John
prepared for a long wait, kicking away
the snow until he had exposed a cushion
of dry, warm leaves. Then he was ready
to talk.
good many foxes in my day, and they're
always learning me something new. My
dogs once got after a fox up North
Orange way that was a regular terror.
The day was just right for trailing,
ground just moist enough so that you
could see his toe marks when 1t was bare,
but that fellow just kept losing the dogs
/. al. the way I could hear the yapping
up and down the ridge, every now and
then shutting up as if they had lost the
scent. 1 was up on top of a big rock,
where l could see pretty We'll. and by
and by down below l saw Mr.. Fox como
trotting along a brook. He Kept jump
saw that he was jumping back and forth
across the brook. making sort of zigzag
track that would fool any dog. Finally
he got to shallow place, and burned II
Then he got out and shook himself and
sat down behind stump where he could
peek out and see the dogs working along
the brook I was Just starting after him
of sight through the bushes.
ST put the dogs on his TRAIL and they
gave him a hot drive for time until
they struck a rail fence. where the fox
lest them again by jumping up onto the
top rail. He ran piece that way per-
haps 200 yards. and then jumped, I'll
the dogs didn't fne the trail again for
fifteen minutes Then the fox took a
run down the hill. and the next thing
knew the dogs were going lickety-split
a1n rod fold iln or fxxyo
with the scent so hot it fairly sizzled. 1
waited there spell, and then not hearing
anything walked down. By and by I
came across the dogs nosing around, and
had given them the slip by getting into
"a manure pile and rolling over and over
and killing the scent. For week after
that | couldn't get the dogs to run any
thing but cows"
Are foxes often as clever as that?' the
old hunter was asked.
well, / don't know as they. are, but
they're pretty ALFRED smart, can tell
you Ever been up to North Orange?
Then we don't know Baird That's him
over by that rock. Baird's a great fox
straight. He told me his dog Music
jumped a fox up there that was daisy.
He gave the dogs a hard run, but they
kept the scent like good 'uns, but he
you think he did it? I wouldn't have be-
lieved it myself except that I know
know Baird and I know foxes. That fox
ran across the trail of a skunk, and he
followed it till 1t got so hot that the
hounds couldn't follow his.
1.-The foxes know right well when dog
is on their trail, and they'll do anything
to kill or hide the scent. Quite common
trick is to run through COW yard and
mix with the cattle. One of the Hart
ford men told me funny thing that hap
pened down there once. One of the cleo
trio roads runs through the woods where
thew HINT S0mnt1nes and fox got
to the rail where 1t sometimes crosses a
swamp, and walked 300 or 400 yards till
he lost the dogs entirely, I've known
once that jumped from tree to tree like
a squirrel, but I never really believed the
story. But there are a whole lot of fool |
get shot or else get tagged out. Then
they make tracks for their holes, and it's
a case of breaking your back digging
them out or letting 'em co.
Instances of foxes taking to the rail
George w. Roraback, of Westfeld, the |
father of the Western Massachusetts Fox
club, knows. that habit of theirs to his |
hounds because of it. One of them was |
a remarkable animal in following scent, |
and she met ner untimely end on the |
Boston & Albany tracks just east of
the east mountain ridge when the little |
fellow decided to adopt little strategy |
his trail, Coming to the Boston & |
Albany road, he trotted along on the |
eastbound track, some of the time walk |
ing the rail in order to bewilder the dog: |
an approaching train caused the fox to |
scud off once more to his familiar run |
ways. The hound not far behind, little |
realized the approaching danger. only |
one thing was on her mind, and that
was to keep her nose close to the ground |
and move along in the direction the