| | | Fox Hunting | Fox hunting, more often than not, refers to using
hunting dogs to chase a fox, and pursuing them on
horseback. Though this practice has been deemed
barbaric time and time again by anti-animal cruelty
groups, it has been a part of country life in Britain
for many years. Besides it's origins in the British
Isles, it has long since spread to areas that were
once under British control: The United States, India,
New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, to name a few
places.
In England the quarry is the red fox. In the United
States a gray fox or coyote is substituted. Only a few
hunts in hunts in Virginia and Maryland claim to hunt
foxes. In India a jackal is used.
A hunt, of the traditional kind, is begun by setting
dogs loose in an area thought to be a fox den. If the
dogs, usually scent hounds, pick up the scent of the
fox they will begin their pursuit. Hunters pursue the
pack of dogs by the most direct route possible. As a
result, low lying walls and obstacles are jumped. It
is thought that some equestrian sports, such as the
steeplechase, are a direct result of skills learned at
fox hunting. When the dogs catch up to the fox they
will kill it, so often times, if the fox can find a
way, he will go underground. In England, terriers will
sometimes be sent in the foxhole to kill and retrieve
the fox. In American fox hunting, when the fox goes
underground he is left alone, and the hunt is over.
Fot this reason, fox hunting in America is sometimes
referred to as fox chasing.
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