The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-10-09
AFOx Hunt in New Hampshire
BY Err est Harold Paynes.
n THE vicinity of my home in New
Hampshire foxes are among the

IN THE vicinity of my home in New |
HAMPSHIRE foxes are among the
comuonest Of the wild animals. NJ
one even hopes for their total exterminN
ation-the possibility of such thirg IS
too remote even to excite a hope. For |
nv mart. I am pleased that they are
here for / see them often, ana am
seldom too busy to watch a fo%. some
times they may be seen crosslngAlhe
road at dusk, just moving shadows ~
the uncertain light, but more otten 1
get A glimpse of one in broad daylight,
while he is busy catching Srasshop-
pers In some field With his head on
ore side. his ears cooked forward. ano
with his sharp nose pointing TO sonle
object in the grass, he stands for
moment. rigid with attention, Theh
he leaps upward in a graceful arch'
and alights with ali four feet close to-
gether. Usually the grasshopper Is un-
derneath and the sharp nuzzle IS poheu J
down between the paws TO bring the
Iuckless insect out
NV neighbors do not seem to enjoy
seeing fox quite so much as | DO.
They usually get their glimpses oil
him at night after being awakened by
the squawking of the hens, and often
enough they see him leave the prem
ises with one Of their choicest brOhers
in his jaws. One good housewife VINO
lives within a mile of me Nrears tuf-
keys for pin money, and one hne sun
day afternoon, not long ago, while the
birds were feeding within quarter OF
a mile of the house, 1he foxes got into
the flock and killed six before the
owner could run over TO save them. IN
cidents of this kind have been the
cause of war which is never ending,
and in which so far as can see,
neither side has yet gained any de-
cisive advantage There is always
enough Chicken-stealing TO make 1t adj
visahle to keep guns and fox hounds,
and there is always enough fox hunt
ing to keep the foxes ih good health,
/ physically and mentally.
The other day a-peighbor of mine
I declared his intention OF going fox
| hunting on the following morning, and
invited me to go With him. I accepted
/ the intention, aud next day met bim
! i'm his yard at daylight. He had gun
himself. and offered, to loan me one
/ but ! declined with thanks, as do
not keep chickens. and. therefore, have
! Behind the barn four fox hounds were
J chained. and we went round TO loose
! them They were almost crazy with
delight at sight of the gun, and leaped
and barked as they never do il their
master approaches them e>i2ty-handed
! Two OF them were old dogs. trained
| fox hunters. and these were given their
4 liberty attonce. but the other two Were
youngsters. and were taken on the
chain, to be liberated only after the
veterans had started a fox.
/ We were scarcely out of the yard
when the two old dogs struck out into
/ the wet fields with noses TO the ground,
and we could see only their backs and
I tails as they shot from place to place
through the grass. Presently we en-
I tered piece OF woodland. and in less
/ than ten minutes we heard the deep
"Yow-yow" of one Of the old hounds
as he struck the trail Of fox. My
! companion now slipped the young dogs,
and soon the littl epack was In tuli
cry, and tearing along in single file.
/ through the forest and over the noun
I tain side their musical voices echoing
among the hills for miles. A
/ A fox, cunning as he is, has certain
! habits which frequently favor the hunt
| err. For instance. when running before
the hounds he often has regular route.
/ perhaps some miles in length. over
which he leads the dogs over and over,
! again. The hunter. seeing the dogs go
by the first time. hot on Reynard's
! trail. can secrete himself near the path.
4 knowing that there is a fair chance of
getting the fox on his next round. To
/ be sure, the crafty little creaturesis
apt to vary his course more or less, but
/ the experienced fox hunter knows thss
/ there are certain points along the trait
which are more likely 10 be visited than
others, and of course he chooses one of
these points for his stand" This IS
/ just what my companion did. We saw
the dogs go past below a ridge OF high
ground which overlooked valley, and
/ presently we were crouching behind the
stump of tree. waiting for the coming
/ of the fox Some twenty yards below
us, a rock iutted out ofAtl1e hillside,
and my neigh Dor assured me that thee
was every proba bility that the enemg
would come TO that rock. He had al
ready shot three foxes there from HIS
present hiding place. The voices of the
| hounds sounded fainter and fainter,
and finally died away in the distance.
and the man with the gun said that II
might be twenty minutes before W.
told me stories OF other animals he had
hunted-of weasels and rats which had
destroyed his poultry; OF an eagle
which had attempted TO carry off one
of his lambs. and of black bear whlci.
years ago had broken into a sty aud
killed three full grown pigs. And So
the time passed until we again heard
the baying of the hounds. which had
been almost round the hill, and 0hich
were now approaching us as fast as
they could travel | looked in the ,di-
rection of the sound, and far away, Ii;
a field of Iight-colored. sun burnt grass,
| caught a glimpse of red: it was a fox.
1t disappeared. and then / saw il again.
coming straight in our direction. In
it's path there was a large tree stump.
and upon this it leaped. sat down and
looked straight i'm our direction | felt
sure il did not see us. for neither Of US
had moved a muscle. and a fox like
many other wild animals. is compara7
lively Indifferent to motionless objects.
| II did not seem the least uneasy,
though it must have heard the dogs
plainly enough. At last it turned its
head towards them for an instant. anG
in that instant my companion brought
his gun to his shoulder. The little
animal was too far away for him 70
risk a shot at il. but il would be
lnearer presently. II slipped down frouj
the stump and passed along under the
hill until IL reached the rock. fupon
which it leapcd to hook back in the