Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-02-16
THE CUNNING OF FOXES.
Clever Device to Which They Resort
to Thwart Pursuers.

Clever Device to Which They Resort
to Thwart Pursuers.
Among the many resources at hi.
command to outwit his natural en-.
emy, the hound, Reynard prizes mos
frozen surface of a river, and in these
days Of deep SHOWS will rarely fai
to avail himself Of one of these means
of safety. The rail raises the line
Of scent too high for the hounds
nose, the frozen river and the wei
beaten road, beside the good footing
they afford him, retain not particle
Of the tell-tale scent so dear to the
| pursuer.
On one occasion F. and T., as wei
as my keen scented old hound, JEFF
had found that our fox vanished into
thin air at one particular point and
though the snow lay deep on the
ground. and by 1t we could see thai
the fox had come into the road, nc
amount Of perseverance on our par
revealed to US what had become Of
| him after that. In vain we walked
up and down the road in search OF
the tell-tale, track, not break ir
the even surface of the snow could
be found, and we were obliged to re.
turn home and own ourselves out.
witted, while Reynard, no doubt, sal
] watching US from some safe distance
saying with Puck, What fools these
mortals be!'
But every fox. no doubt as well as
every dog, must have his day, and the
mystery was solved on the next hunt
Ensconced on a high piece Of ground
and while the hills echoed with the
mellow voice Of the old dog, I saw the
fox slip into the road, follow 1t for q
hundred rods, and then by one high
leap land on top Of the fence which
ran at right angles with the highway
and bounding along the uppermost
rail nimbly reached piece OF
ploughed ground which the wind had
blown bare Of snow, run across
the ploughed field to within ninety
yards Of me. when, jumping on a
rock. he curled himself up and delib-
erately lay down to watch the effect
of his little game and enjoyed the
discontinue Of the hounds. dared
not move. so opening my breech-
loader I slipped in a long range
thread wound cartridge, took careful
aim, and sent a charge Of double B
shot through Reynard's handsome
fur.
But foxes know more mischievous
tricks than this, and dear to the
heart Of every old fox Is scamper
down the surface Of a frozen river,
which besides Offering an opportunity
Of escape, often permits him to take
dire revenge on his troublesome en-
emy. the hound. For Reynard Is
versed in physics and knows full well
the difference of weight between
himself and his pursuer; instinct
teaches him to a nicely the exact
thickness Of Ice required to bear his
light fur-covered body, and that on
such Ice his more ponderous enemy
may not venture safely.
II you doubt all this, as often do,
go and look down some swift stream
almost frozen over and covered with
light snow, and note how the trail of
the flying fox gracefully curves to-
ward every hole and invariably skirts
the very edge of every piece Of swift
open water. Many a good hound has
ended his days by venturing to fol-
low where his tricky enemy leads,
and I imagine If foxes ever laugh,
and they certainly look as though
they did, Reynard must laugh as he
hears the echo of the hounds deep
bark suddenly die away and knows
his game has been successful. But
we did not laugh, F. and I, when all
at once silence settled over the hills,
but a minute before musical with
the CHEEKY notes of old Jeff's voice,
for we knew he was in the treach-
erous river, and without losing a Sec
ond, F. hurried toward a piece of
open water not far distant.
On reachig 1t our fears were at
once realized. Caught In the swift
current benumbed with cold and ex-
hausted by the attempts he had made
to save himself, old JEFF lay with his
head on the ice, his limbs almost mo-
tionless and whining piteously. There
was no time to be lost, and unable to
resist the dogs brute appeal for help,
F. stretched himself on the treacher-
Gus Ice, seized the animal by the
neck. pulled him out. and in a min
ute the dog was rolling joyfully at our
feet. Though benumbed with cold
and covered with ice he at once took
up the scent with an angry bark, and
two hours after we had the satisfac-
ton of killing the fox after one of
the best runs I ever saw.-Forest and
Stream.