Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-05-13
Washington Countryside
Fast Becoming Paradise
For Fox Hunters in i. S.
Tracing the Origin of the Willy Red Fox. King
of Fleet.Footed Animals, Which Abounds
Near Here.
BY H. E. c. BRYANT.

Oldest and most delightful pas.
! times of Maryland and Virginia.
/ George Washington INDUCED in
it two or three times a week for
years; his favorite recreation was rid
ing to the hounds, and he was among
the first Americans to import we'll
bred horses and dogs. Blood OF his
stables and kennels exists in jumping
horses and running dogs to this day.
The Henrys of Virginia, and the
CAROLS, and Ogles of Maryland were
devotees Of the chase.
The master of Mount Vernon ran
gray foxes; the red fox, the king of
fleet footed animals, had not come to
this section Of the country at that
time. The gray fox, inferior in speed
and endurance, but just as cunning,
when in pursuit or being pursued.
was here in greatest plenty. The
mighty red, an aristocrat Of aristo-
cratic runners, Is an imported fox,
having been brought here from Eng
land to sportsmen nearly 200 years
ago and planted on the Eastern Shore
of Maryland. Today, the rugged and
rolling country along the Potomac
River and its tributaries-Rock Creek,
Sligo Greek, Cabin John Creek, Seneca
Creek, the Patuxent River and others
literally TEEN with red foxes.
Hunters estimate that thousand OF
| them are within 15-mile radius of
the National Capital. Frequently OBJ
servant persons, travelling the high
ways and byways about the city see
them running wild. The unframed
eye may mistake them for queer
looking little dogs"
Brer Fox Is very shy, and if he sees
a man before the man sees him he
| will hide nearby and let his old
enemy pass. II the man had a keen
nose he would get Whit of him for
he emits a pungent odor. Hounds
often locate him a half mile away
by body scent.
Some time ago James D. Preston,
librarian of the Senate, and a friend
were playing golf on a Rock Creek
course One of the knocked balls ran
of of the green into the edge of the
woods, and the player. while looking
for it, stumbled upon an interesting
| family, which he took to be that of q
stray dog.
Jim, come here" said he: here are
some of the cutest little pups I ever
saw"
Mr. Preston and his companion had
run upon seven playful red fox cubs,
just outside of their den. They shook
a bush and the little denizens of the
earth darted into their home.
| Foxes travel for feed at night, leav-
| ing their daytime bed late in the
afternoon and taking another about
sunrise. Early risers are apt to see
| them scurrying for some quiet, out-of-
| the-Way place for rest. 1 have seen
them crossing fields or roads between
daybreak and sunup. Persons work.
ing in the woods sometimes frighten
| them from their sleeping quarters
under a log, or fallen tree top or the
SIDE of rock.
One not familiar with the ways OF
| the fox cannot understand why SO
many of the willy creatures stay SO
close to Washington with its 10000
inhabitants. The territory about is
ideal for foxes. and reds and grays
use it to PROPAGATE their kind. Hun
dreds of hunters, not all in red coats
and riding toys, but farmers, and
others who like to hear the cry of the
running hound chase them. On pretty
moonlit nights motorists, If they will
stop their engines, can hear a dozen
packs between the District of Column
bia and Warrenton, or Fredericksburg,
on the south, or Gaithersburg, or
| Sandy Springs on the north.
The best foxhounds in the United
States have been bred within hum
bred miles of the Washington Monu-
ment.
| The sight of foxes, especially reds,
| is an every-d day incident on some
nearby Maryland and Virginia farms.
The covers by the roadside are alive
with them.
The gray and red do not belong to
the same fox family; they seldom
range the same territory. Reds will
migrate if grays insist on staying on
their grounds They high-hat them.
Grays are more abundant along the
Potomac on the Virginia side. but in
Maryland reds predominant. The gray
| fox is more of pest than the red;
he is fond of barnyard fowls. and lays
| for them. The red will pull down a
| chicken or turkey or catch bird, but
! he hunts rabbits and ground mice or
rats. preferring them to poultry.
While the gray frequents thickets near
| farm houses. to feed on some wide
ranging domestic bird, the red proWlS
| woods. stubble or corn fields, looking
for Brer Rabbit or a rodent. A care
less hen turkey or guinea or wild bird
that gets in the way OF RED 1ox
courts death, but if she stays close to
home he will not go far out OF his
way to catch her.
Foxes, like dogs, cats or hogs, II
| they form the habit OF killing Darn
ward fowls, are not easily broken from
it. Once they get taste OF poultry,
they become chicken rustlers. Such
robbers are quickly outlawed and
killed. That the fox, gray or red, has
no conscience when it comes to for
aging for food, his dearest friend will
not deny, but, like men and women,
the fox prefers certain foods.
Mr.. Glenn Shaver of West Virginia,
one time chairman of the Democratic
| National Committee, is not only fox
| hunter but a student of foxes. He
| says that by experiment he has found
that a half-tame fox that escapes
from his owner will not risk his free
dom to get a turkey or chicken, but
he cannot resist the temptation OF a
nice, juicy-looking mouse. There
fore, when one of his slips his collar
or gets out of his pen, he goes after
him with a ground rat, and If hungry
he will fall for that bait.
In recent years the Department OF
Agriculture has devoted some time to
investigating the food of the fox. A
great many stomachs have been ex-
amined.
A bulletin issued June 4. 1882, said:
"Quail hunters and fox hunters have
argued as to whether foxes destroy so
i many quail that fox numbers should
be reduced thus sacrificing the sport
Of fox-hunting in favor of that OF bird
cunning. Reports of an investigation
of the question by the Biological Sur
| vey do not bear out the contentious
of the quail hunters. Virginia foxes