Ill tell you pidge, wont make it up, wont tell you lies. I love hunting. My mother hated it, father isnt bothered. When I was young I expressed an interest, my parents got me in touch with hunts to find out about it, no propaganda, no making things up. I went to meets, I enjoyed the atmosphere, the Horses, the Hounds and the general friendliness I was shown.

I havent ridden a Horse in many years, I follow on foot. Ive never ever seen a Fox caught by the Hounds, nor do I express a wish to do so, not many of the followers ever do. I love the chase, I love the pack, I love the hunt. I am satisfied that the Fox will be caught and killed almost instantly, if not it will be UNHARMED. If it goes to ground, it depends of the Farmers wishes as to whether its dug out and shot.

Ive seen Foxes mangled in snares, riddled with mange, hit by cars, shot but not killed, all of these leave the animal a long suffering death Id never wish on anything. Hunting is kill instantly or run free and unharmed.

Its not about the pink coats, thats just traditional wear, nobody moans about the Beefeaters, guards or the Queen in all her "traditional" wear do they? Thats all it is, a "uniform" nothing more, and of course there are no rules stating you have to wear it.

Its legal to shoot a Fox, and miss, and leave it to suffer for days if you cant find it. Its legal to snare a fox and for it to chew its leg off in a desperate attempt to escape, then die days later of massive infection and blood poisoning. Its legal for you to gas a Fox hole, and HOPE thats who is at home, they will suffer too, long extended periods of suffering before they finally die, along with anything else that may be there. Its also legal for you to poison the Fox, assuming of course thats who gets the poison, look how many dogs are poisoned, you can bet most of that was left for Foxes, but who is to tell the dog that?

So for me, hunting, is the safest and quickest method to reduce Fox numbers on land where Farmers want the numbers reduced. Supporting farmers and the countryside, keeping the Foxes in the Countryside healthy, not like the mange ridden things in towns, skeletal some of them and in obvious poor health.

Hope that helps a little.

Excellent post Dawn, very well explained.

It is a terrible thing that farmers THINK that foxes need to be killed, but I totally agree that if the murder of these beautiful animals is to continue, I would prefer to see them hunted than shot.

My argument is that foxes are NOT vermin and do not need to be culled. Neither do badgers.

Yes, target the humans, fair play, although I would never advocate violence ... but to hurt the horses or hounds, it beats me too.

I absolutely abhor snares too - and unfortunately have to live with them as my husband is head shepherd on a shooting estate Two of my dogs got caught in snares recently. Flame (GSD) had one round her muzzle which was extremely tight and I would hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been there quickly to help her out. The other dog that was caught around the neck was one of my hubby's working dogs and thankfully she didn't panic and I was able to let her free with relative ease. I wish they would be banned and I often have heated discussions with the keepers up here about them. However, I also hate lamping foxes at night (which is also a regular occurrence where I live) as it is not easy to cleanly shoot and kill a fox that is fleeing for its life over heather I can understand why keepers cannot allow foxes around their release pens and also, as this is a grouse moor, they want to protect the ground nesting birds. However, what I don't understand is that it seems that every fox up here has to be extinguished. They won't tolerate any at all, which I find hard to stomach. Especially when I heard of a vixen with six cubs being killed last year Not one was allowed to live.

Part of the reason I believe that fox hunting on horseback is all about the thrill of the sport, is that if they were seriously wanting to control foxes they would use dogs such as lurchers, which could catch and kill a fox with relative ease and in a much shorter space of time - ie no long, drawn out chase. But, hey, where is the fun in that?!

Yes those types of Foxes I mean.

With the numbers of Foxes increasing everywhere, its inevitable that they will appear more common and be seen more I suppose. Thing is with Foxes, they become very "comfortable" in their surroundings very quickly, and may not see a dog or a person as a threat, again its the "town" effect, they lose their natural behaviour.

Dont think for one second I dont like Foxes, I do, I like all native British Wildlife, but they do need control. When people change their behaviour through our behaviour towards them, thats when it becomes a problem, for them and for us.

We have a family of Foxes just yards from our house, I can see them most nights, but lately in the colder weather they come out during the late afternoon. It was just a week or so ago I noticed the vixen has little coat on her tail, mange I expect, but I also wonder whether her behaviour has changed because of it, coming out earlier and the cubs which really should of been kicked out by now, are copying. All goes for making problems when wild animals dont behave naturally.

Here are a few pics, I even PAID £80 to photograph Foxes!!

Although I do wonder why most people think of Fox hounds when talking about this, what about Lurchers? Diesel's parents was bred to be fox hunters, and so was Diesel's litter he would of been used illegally to hunt and kill Foxes if he was sold to the people who his breeder and seller wanted him to be sold too, and I'm sure that some of his litter mates are being used, but they would not chase for a long time, but could be slipped and catch a fox quite quickly.

they might love to do it, but are they aware of the dangers involved?? and i think the figures of injured hounds will be more than 'a few'. also, i never blamed the hounds. and i dont, i blame the sick people who train them.

Morning.
Yes Hounds are shot when they get too old, they are the sole responsibility of the hunts and are cared for and PTS by them. This can be youngish if the Hound has a poor temperament (rare) or if it isnt any good at hunting, again rare. Usually and more and more common a Hound an be 10yrs old and upwards and is still hunting , these dogs are incredibly fit. I think it was the Quorn Hunt I visited a few years ago and a 13yr old Hound was still hunting, looked terrific. As I said earlier, most of the Hounds were relocated to other packs, some have since regrouped getting back their stock, I dont think there are too many less than there were originally but I dont know for certain how many.

It isnt rubbish, its a choice. When purchasing a Horse would you rather have one sound in mind and body, or one that has never galloped nor been exposed to crowds, people, animals and the countryside?

You cant do this LB, an animal just isnt capable of thinking this way. Horses fall on the race track, you could say they "know" this, doesnt stop them jumping again nor racing does it? A dog that runs into a fence in the park whilst playing with another doesnt refuse to go into the park the following day for fear of it happening again, they cannot think like this.

Just wanted to add..
I am SO jealous of those that have seen badgers...I really want to see badgers and sadly have never seen one.

I also wanted to add...the 'city' foxes in my area are beautiful, not at all mange ridden. There are loads, as I said, where we walk the dogs regularly and they are in excellent condition. They do have quite extensive woodland to roam in, a churchayard and park...plus more woodland close by (over the road!) Perhaps that is why, as they have lots of space, but also access to houses and gardens etc. We see them quite alot. (we also get quite a diverse array of birdlife...)

Dont think for one second I dont like Foxes, I do, I like all native British Wildlife, but they do need control. When people change their behaviour through our behaviour towards them, thats when it becomes a problem, for them and for us.

Part of the reason I believe that fox hunting on horseback is all about the thrill of the sport, is that if they were seriously wanting to control foxes they would use dogs such as lurchers, which could catch and kill a fox with relative ease and in a much shorter space of time - ie no long, drawn out chase. But, hey, where is the fun in that?!

Unfortunately some saboteurs are in it for the violence and for a punch up, and are not animal lovers at all. However, foxes also cross roads, railway lines etc and the hounds follow wherever the fox goes - so there is always a risk of hounds being hit by a train or a car (and also for entering private gardens and attacking pets), which has nothing whatsoever to do with the sabs.

That is very true, lurchers would be a much more efficient way of catching foxes. But in my (limited) experience of hunting it is almost like a religion to some, steeped in tradition that goes back centuries. In some places whole communities were involved in hunting, one way or another.

I genuinally believe it is in the dogs blood it is instinct. Dizzy is a foxhound x and I have never seen such a reaction as the first time she saw a fox. I have not trained her to be like this and she lives with all sorts of furries and cats etc but she wanted to chase that fox. It pulled me up on her capabilities and how her natural instinct took over.

I don't know enough about hunting to make a judgement either way but I can't say the idea sits comfortably with me.

I absolutely abhor snares too - and unfortunately have to live with them as my husband is head shepherd on a shooting estate Two of my dogs got caught in snares recently. Flame (GSD) had one round her muzzle which was extremely tight and I would hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been there quickly to help her out. The other dog that was caught around the neck was one of my hubby's working dogs and thankfully she didn't panic and I was able to let her free with relative ease. I wish they would be banned and I often have heated discussions with the keepers up here about them. However, I also hate lamping foxes at night (which is also a regular occurrence where I live) as it is not easy to cleanly shoot and kill a fox that is fleeing for its life over heather I can understand why keepers cannot allow foxes around their release pens and also, as this is a grouse moor, they want to protect the ground nesting birds. However, what I don't understand is that it seems that every fox up here has to be extinguished. They won't tolerate any at all, which I find hard to stomach. Especially when I heard of a vixen with six cubs being killed last year Not one was allowed to live.

Part of the reason I believe that fox hunting on horseback is all about the thrill of the sport, is that if they were seriously wanting to control foxes they would use dogs such as lurchers, which could catch and kill a fox with relative ease and in a much shorter space of time - ie no long, drawn out chase. But, hey, where is the fun in that?!