Fox hunting
Encyclopedia
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

, by trained foxhound
Foxhound
A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound. Foxhounds hunt in packs and, like all scent hounds, have a strong sense of smell. They are used in hunts for foxes, hence the name. When out hunting they are followed usually on horseback and will travel several miles to catch their target. These dogs...

s or other scent hound
Scent hound
Scent hounds are a type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than sight. The Scenthound breeds are generally regarded as having some of the most sensitive noses among canines....

s, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.

Fox hunting originated in its current form in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in the 16th century, but is practised all over the world, including in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In Australia, the term also refers to the hunting of foxes with firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...

s similar to spotlighting
Spotlighting
Spotlighting or Lamping is a method of hunting nocturnal animals using off-road vehicles and high-powered lights, spotlights, lamps or flashlights, that makes special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species. A further important aspect is that many animals Spotlighting or Lamping (also...

 or deer hunting
Deer hunting
Deer hunting is survival hunting or sport hunting, harvesting deer, dating back to tens of thousands of years ago. Which occurred though out Europe Asia and North America There are numerous types of deer throughout the world that are hunted.- New Zealand :...

.

The sport is controversial, particularly in the UK, where bans were introduced for Scotland in 2002, then for England and Wales in November 2004 (law enforced from February 2005). Proponents see it as an important part of rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 culture and useful for reasons of conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....

 and pest control
Pest control
Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...

, while opponents argue that it is cruel
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...

 and unnecessary.

History

The use of scenthounds to track prey dates back to Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...

n, Babylonian, and ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian times, and was known as venery.

Europe

Many Greek- and Roman- influenced countries have long traditions of hunting with hounds. Hunting with Agassaei hounds was popular in Celtic Britain, even before the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 arrived, introducing the Castorian and Fulpine hound breeds which they used to hunt. Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 hunting traditions were brought to Britain when William the Conqueror arrived, along with the Gascon and Talbot
Talbot (dog)
The talbot was a white hunting dog which is now extinct because of its lack of purpose and need for constant care, but it has been credited with being an ancestor of the modern beagle and bloodhound...

 hounds.

Foxes were referred to as beasts of the chase by medieval
Medieval hunting
Throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages, men hunted wild animals. While game was at times an important source of food, it was rarely the principal source of nutrition. Hunting was engaged by all classes, but by the High Middle Ages, the necessity of hunting was transformed into a stylized...

 times, along with the red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

 (hart
Hart (deer)
The word hart is an old alternative word for "stag" ....

 & hind), marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...

s, and roe
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...

s, but the earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, England, in 1534, where farmers began chasing foxes down with their dogs for the purpose of pest control . The first use of packs specifically trained to hunt foxes was in the late 1600s, with the oldest fox hunt being, probably, the Bilsdale in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. By the end of the seventeenth century, deer hunting was in decline. The Inclosure Acts brought fences to separate open land into fields, deer forests were being cut down, and arable land was increasing. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, people began to move out of the country and into towns and cities to find work. Roads, rail, and canals split hunting countries, but also made hunting accessible to more people. Shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...

s were improved during the nineteenth century and the shooting of gamebirds became more popular. Fox hunting developed further in the eighteenth century when Hugo Meynell
Hugo Meynell
Hugo Meynell is generally seen as the father of modern fox hunting, became Master of Fox Hounds for the Quorn Hunt in Leicestershire in 1753 and continued in that role for another forty-seven years . Meynell pioneered an extended chase at high speeds through open grassland...

 developed breeds of hound and horse to address the new geography of rural England.

To protect pheasants
Common Pheasant
The Common Pheasant , is a bird in the pheasant family . It is native to Georgia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives occur such as in Europe , it is simply known as the "pheasant"...

 for shooters, gamekeeper
Gamekeeper
A gamekeeper is a person who manages an area of countryside to make sure there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.Typically, a gamekeeper is...

s culled foxes almost to extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...

 in many areas, which caused the huntsmen to improve their coverts to preserve their quarry. The Game Laws
Game Act 1831
The Game Act 1831 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which was passed to protect game birds by establishing a close season when they could not be legally taken. The act also established the need for game licences and the appointing of gamekeepers...

 were relaxed in 1831, which meant that anyone could obtain a permit to take rabbits, hares, and game birds.

In Germany, hunting with hounds was first banned on the initiative of Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...

 on July 3, 1934.  In 1939, the ban was extended to cover Austria after Germany's annexation of the country. Bernd Ergert, the director of Germany's hunting museum in Munich, said of the ban, "The aristocrats were understandably furious, but they could do nothing about the ban given the totalitarian nature of the regime."

United States

According to the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, Englishman Robert Brooke
Robert Brooke, Sr.
Robert Brooke, Sr. was a colonial Governor of Maryland.- Early career :Robert was born in Whitemarsh, Southampton on June 23, 1602, and matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford University on April 28, 1618. He received the degree of B.A. July 6, 1620, and M.A. April 20, 1624...

 was the first man to import hunting hounds to America, bringing his pack to Maryland in 1650 when he imported his horses and a pack of foxhounds. Also around this time, numbers of European red foxes were introduced into the Eastern seaboard of North America for hunting. The first organised hunt for the benefit of a group (rather than a single patron) was started by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway....

 in 1747. In the United States, George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 and Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

 both kept packs of fox hounds before and after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

.

Australia

In Australia, the European red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

 was introduced solely for the purpose of fox hunting in 1855. Native animal populations have been very badly affected, with the extinction of at least 10 species attributed to the spread of foxes. Fox hunting continues in Australia, with thirteen clubs with over 1000 members, still hunting with horses and hounds, in the state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

. Fox hunting with hounds results in around 650 foxes being killed annually in Victoria, compared with over 90,000 shot over a similar period in response to a State government bounty.

United Kingdom

The controversy around fox hunting led to the passing of the Hunting Act 2004
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...

 in November of that year, after a free vote in the House of Commons, which made hunting with dogs unlawful in England and Wales from February 18, 2005. An amendment which allowed licensed hunting under stricter conditions, advocated by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

 and some members of the government's independent inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

 on fox hunting (including its chairman Lord Burns
Terence Burns, Baron Burns
Terence Burns, Baron Burns, GCB is a British economist, made a life peer in 1998 for his services as former Chief Economic Advisor and Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury. He is currently Chairman of Santander UK, Non-Executive Chairman of Glas Cymru, and a Non-Executive Director of Pearson Group...

), was voted down. The passing
Coming into force
Coming into force or entry into force refers to the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect...

 of the Hunting Act was also notable in that it was implemented through the use of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2 of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that that Act and the Parliament Act 1911 are to be construed as one.The Parliament Act 1911 The...

 after the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 refused to pass the legislation, despite the Commons passing it by a majority of 356 to 166. Scotland, which has its own Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

, banned fox hunting in 2002, over two years before the ban in England and Wales. Fox hunting remains legal in Northern Ireland.

After the ban on fox hunting, hunts say that they follow artificially laid trails, although the League Against Cruel Sports
League Against Cruel Sports
The League Against Cruel Sports are an animal welfare organisation that campaigns against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing. It also campaigns to ban the manufacture, sale and use of snares, for the regulation of greyhound racing and for an end to commercial...

 has alleged widespread law breaking. Supporters of fox hunting claim that the number of foxes killed by dogs has increased since the ban, that hunts have reported an increase in membership and that around 320,000 people (their highest recorded number) turned up to fox hunts on Boxing Day 2006. The Master of Foxhounds association lists 184 active hunts as of November 2008.

United States

In America, fox hunting is also called 'fox chasing,' as the purpose is not to actually kill the animal but to enjoy the thrill of the chase. A hunt may go without a kill for several years, despite chasing two or more foxes in a single day's hunting. As a rule, foxes are not pursued once they have 'gone to ground.' American fox hunters undertake stewardship of the land, and endeavour to maintain fox populations and habitats as much as possible.

In 2007, the Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America listed 171 registered packs in the U.S. and Canada. This number does not include the nonregistered (also known as 'farmer' or 'outlaw') packs. In some arid parts of the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

, where foxes in general are more difficult to locate, hunts track coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

s and, in some cases, bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

s.

Other countries

Fox hunting with hounds is practised in countries including Australia, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Italy, and Russia whereas the Burns Inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

 reported that fox hunting was "not practised or is largely banned" in Spain, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.

Red fox

The red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

(Vulpes vulpes) is the normal prey animal of a fox hunt in the U.S. and Europe. A small omnivorous
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...

 predator, the fox lives in underground burrows called earths, and is predominantly active around twilight (making it a crepuscular
Crepuscular
Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is during dawn and dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight." Crepuscular is, thus, in contrast with diurnal and nocturnal behavior. Crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright...

 animal). Adult foxes tend to range around an area of between square kilometers in good terrain, although in poor terrain, their range can be as much as 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi). The red fox can run at up to 48 km/h (29.8 mph). The fox is also variously known as a Tod (old English word for fox), Reynard
Reynard
Reynard is the subject of a literary cycle of allegorical French, Dutch, English, and German fables largely concerned with Reynard, an anthropomorphic red fox and trickster figure.-Etymology of the name:Theories about the origin of the name Reynard are:...

(the name of an anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...

 character in European literature from the twelfth century), or Charlie (named for the Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

 politician Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...

). American red foxes tend to be larger than European forms, but according to hunter's accounts, they have lesser cunning, vigour and endurance in the chase compared to the European foxes.

Coyote, gray fox, and other quarry

Other species than the red fox may be the quarry in a Hunt. The choice of quarry depends on the region and numbers available.
The coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

 (Canis latrans) is a significant quarry for many Hunts in North America, particularly in the west and southwest, where there are large open spaces. The coyote is an indigenous predator that did not range east of the Mississippi River until the latter half of the 20th century. The coyote is faster than a fox, running at 65 km/h (40.4 mph) and also wider ranging, with a territory of up to 283 square kilometres (109.3 sq mi), so a much larger hunt territory is required to chase it. However, coyotes tend to be less challenging intellectually, as they offer a straight line hunt instead of the convoluted fox line. Coyotes can be challenging opponents for the dogs in physical confrontations, despite the size advantage of a large dog. Coyotes have larger canine teeth and are generally more practised in hostile encounters.

The gray fox
Gray Fox
The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...

 (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), a distant relative of the European red fox, is also hunted in North America. It is an adept climber of trees, making it harder to hunt with hounds. The smell of the grey fox is not as strong as that of the red, therefore more time is needed for the hounds to take the scent. Unlike the red fox which, during the chase, will run far ahead from the pack, the grey fox will speed toward heavy brush, thus making it more difficult to pursue. Also unlike the red fox, which occurs more prominently in the northern United States, the more southern grey fox is rarely hunted on horseback, due to its densely covered habitat preferences. Generally, two hours are required to fully tire out and capture a grey fox with hounds.

Hunts in the southern United States sometimes pursue the bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

 (Lynx rufus). In countries such as India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and in other areas formerly under British influence, such as Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, the golden jackal
Golden Jackal
The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...

 (Canis aureus) is often hunted. During the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

, British sportsmen in India would hunt jackals on horseback with hounds as a substitute for the fox hunting of their native England. Unlike foxes, golden jackals were documented to be ferociously protective of their pack mates, and could seriously injure dogs. Jackals were not hunted often in this manner, as they were slower than foxes and could scarcely outrun greyhounds after 200 yards.

Animals of the hunt

Hounds and other dogs

Fox hunting is usually undertaken with a pack of scent hound
Scent hound
Scent hounds are a type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than sight. The Scenthound breeds are generally regarded as having some of the most sensitive noses among canines....

s, and, in most cases, these are specially bred foxhound
Foxhound
A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound. Foxhounds hunt in packs and, like all scent hounds, have a strong sense of smell. They are used in hunts for foxes, hence the name. When out hunting they are followed usually on horseback and will travel several miles to catch their target. These dogs...

s
.
These dogs are trained to pursue the fox based on its scent. The two main types of foxhound are the English Foxhound
English Foxhound
The English Foxhound is one of the four foxhound breeds of dog. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt foxes by scent.-Appearance:The English Foxhound is about 21-25 inches tall to the withers, and weighs anywhere between 65-75 pounds, although some English Foxhounds bred for the show ring can be...

 and the American Foxhound
American Foxhound
The American Foxhound is a breed of dog that is cousin to the English Foxhound. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt foxes by scent.-History:...

. It is possible to use a sight hound such as a Greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...

 or lurcher
Lurcher
The lurcher is a type of dog originating in Ireland and parts of Great Britain. While not a pure breed, it is generally a cross between a sighthound and any other breed, usually a pastoral dog or terrier, dependent on the attributes desired by the breeder; originally stealth and cunning...

 to pursue foxes, though this practice is not common in organised hunting, and these dogs are more often used for coursing
Coursing
Coursing is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight and not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, the landed and wealthy, and commoners with sighthounds and lurchers...

 animals such as hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...

s. There is also one pack of beagle
Beagle
The Beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound, but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game...

s in Virginia that hunt fox. They are unique in that they are the only hunting beagle pack in the U.S. to be followed on horseback. English Foxhound
English Foxhound
The English Foxhound is one of the four foxhound breeds of dog. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt foxes by scent.-Appearance:The English Foxhound is about 21-25 inches tall to the withers, and weighs anywhere between 65-75 pounds, although some English Foxhounds bred for the show ring can be...

s are also used for hunting mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...

.

Hunts may also use terrier
Working terrier
A working terrier is a small type of dog which pursues its quarry into the earth. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the name dates back to at least 1440, derived from early modern French terrier - from the medieval Latin terrarius from the Latin terra .With the growth of popularity of...

s to flush or kill foxes that are hiding underground, as they are small enough to pursue the fox through narrow earth passages.

Horses

The horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s, called "field hunter
Field hunter
A field hunter, or a fox hunter, is a type of horse used in the hunt field for fox hunting. It may be of any breed, but should possess stamina, a level head, and bravery. The horse should have a safe jump, so as not to get caught on any of the solid obstacles found in the hunt field...

s" or hunters, ridden by followers of the hunt, are a prominent feature of many hunts, although others are conducted on foot (and those hunts with a field of horseback-mounted riders may also have foot followers). Horses on hunts can range from specially bred and trained field hunter
Field hunter
A field hunter, or a fox hunter, is a type of horse used in the hunt field for fox hunting. It may be of any breed, but should possess stamina, a level head, and bravery. The horse should have a safe jump, so as not to get caught on any of the solid obstacles found in the hunt field...

s to casual hunt attendees riding a wide variety of horse and pony
Pony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...

 types. Draft
Draft horse
A draft horse , draught horse or dray horse , less often called a work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour...

 and Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 crosses are commonly used as hunters, although purebred
Purebred
Purebreds, also called purebreeds, are cultivated varieties or cultivars of an animal species, achieved through the process of selective breeding...

 Thoroughbreds and horses of many different breeds are also used. Some hunts with unique territories favor certain traits in field hunters, for example, when hunting coyote in the western U.S., a faster horse with more stamina is required to keep up, as coyotes are faster than foxes and inhabit larger territories. Hunters must be well-mannered, have the athletic ability to clear large obstacles such as wide ditches, tall fences, and rock walls, and have the stamina to keep up with the hounds.

Dependent on terrain, and to accommodate different levels of ability, hunts generally have alternative routes that do not involve jumping. The hunt may be divided into two groups, with one group, the First Field, that takes a more direct but demanding route that involves jumps over obstacles while another group, the Second Field (also called Hilltoppers or Gaters), takes longer but less challenging routes that utilize gates or other types of access on the flat.

Birds of prey

In the United Kingdom, since the introduction of the hunting ban, a number of hunts have employed falconers
Falconry
Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...

 to bring birds of prey
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

 to the hunt, due to the exemption in the Hunting Act for falconry. The legality of this will be tested by a private prosecution being brought by the League Against Cruel Sports
League Against Cruel Sports
The League Against Cruel Sports are an animal welfare organisation that campaigns against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing. It also campaigns to ban the manufacture, sale and use of snares, for the regulation of greyhound racing and for an end to commercial...

.

Procedure

Fox hunts are the setting for many social rituals, but the hunting itself begins when hounds are "cast" or put into rough or brushy areas called "coverts", where foxes often lay up during daylight hours or when they hear dogs moving toward them. If the pack manages to pick up the scent of a fox, they will track it for as long as they are able. Scenting can be affected by temperature, humidity, and other factors. The hounds pursue the trail of the fox and the riders follow, by the most direct route possible. Since this may involve very athletic skill on the part of horse and rider alike, fox hunting is the origin of traditional equestrian sports including steeplechase
Steeplechase (horse racing)
The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...

 and point to point racing. The hunt continues until either the fox evades the hounds, goes to ground (that is takes refuge in an underground burrow or den) or is overtaken and usually killed by the hounds. In the case of Scottish hill packs or the gun packs of Wales and upland areas of England, the fox is flushed to guns. Hunts in the Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

n fell
Fell
“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

s and other upland areas are followed by supporters on foot rather than on horseback. In the UK, where the fox goes to ground, terriers may be entered into the earth to locate the fox so that it can be dug down to and killed.

Social rituals are important to hunts, although many have fallen into disuse. One of the most notable was the act of blooding. This is a very old ceremony in which the master or huntsman would smear the blood of the fox or coyote onto the cheeks or forehead of a newly initiated
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...

 hunt follower, often a young child. Another practice of some hunts was to cut off the tail ('brush'), the feet ('pads') and the head ('mask') as trophies, with the carcass then thrown to the dogs. Both of these practices were widely abandoned during the nineteenth century, although isolated cases may still have occurred to the modern day.

Autumn or cub hunting

In the autumn of each year (August–October in the UK), hunts take the young hounds out cub hunting or autumn hunting in order to cull weaker young foxes (which are full size by autumn season as they are born in spring, albeit not yet sexually mature until they are 10 months old and still living in their family group) and teach the young fox hounds to restrict their hunting to foxes. In Britain, the activity consists of hunt supporters surrounding a covert, with riders and foot followers to drive back foxes attempting to escape, and then 'drawing' the covert with the puppies and some more experienced hounds, allowing them to find, attack and kill the young foxes within the surrounded wood. A young hound is considered to be 'entered' into the pack once he or she has successfully joined in a hunt in this fashion. Only rarely, in about 1 in 50 cases, foxhounds do not show suitable aptitude, and must be removed from the pack.

In the U.S., some cubs are chased and allowed to escape to teach them better skills of evasion so that they may be tracked (preferably without being killed) again another day. Many foxes learn to evade the hounds by running up or down streams, running along the tops of fences, and other tactics to throw the hounds off the scent.

Main hunting season

Once the season proper starts (usually from early November in the northern hemisphere, or May in the southern hemisphere), the idea is to drive the fox from the covert and chase it for long distances over open countryside. The northern hemisphere season continues through to April, though a few hunts continue into early May.

Drag, trail and bloodhound hunting

Drag hunting
Drag hunting
Drag hunting is a sport in which a group of dogs chase a scent that has been laid over a terrain before the hunt...

, an equestrian sport
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 which involves dragging an object over the ground to lay a scent for the hounds to follow, can also be popular, either instead of, or in addition to, live quarry hunting. Drag hunts are often considered to be faster than standard fox hunts, with followers not having to wait while the hounds pick up a trail, and often covering an area far larger than a traditional hunt, which may even necessitate a change of horses half way through. A non-equestrian variation, hound trailing, is practiced in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

. Since the UK hunting ban
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...

, hunts claim to use a mixture of an odoriferous substance with an oil in order to improve the persistence of the scent trail, and then to lay the scent about 20 minutes in advance of the hunt. Bloodhounds are also used to hunt a human runner in the sport of Hunting the Clean Boot
Hunting the Clean Boot
Hunting the Clean Boot is a term that has been used in Britain to refer to the use of bloodhounds to follow natural human scent.The 'clean boot' refers to the fact that there is no artificial scent such as aniseed or fox scent, used in drag-hunting and more recently trail hunting adopted by some...

.

Shooting foxes

In Australia, fox hunting also involves hunting foxes with firearms, much the same as deer or rabbit, although Australia also has mounted hunts with hounds. Introduced red foxes are regarded as a serious problem for farmers in Australia, having been introduced by huntsmen in the nineteenth and twentieth century for sporting purposes; as such, their expedient removal is viewed by farmers as the priority, rather than the traditional fox hunt in the UK. Alongside methods such as trapping and poisoning, hunters usually work at night with a spotlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...

 and a small to medium calibre rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

, known as "spotlighting
Spotlighting
Spotlighting or Lamping is a method of hunting nocturnal animals using off-road vehicles and high-powered lights, spotlights, lamps or flashlights, that makes special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species. A further important aspect is that many animals Spotlighting or Lamping (also...

", or "lamping" in the UK and Ireland.

Hunt staff and officials

As a social ritual, participants in a fox hunt fill specific roles, the most prominent of which is the master, often more than one and then called masters or joint masters. These individuals typically take much of the financial responsibility for the overall management of the sporting activities of the hunt and the care and breeding of the hunt's fox hounds, as well as control and direction of its paid staff.
  • Master of fox hounds (M.F.H.) or Joint Master of Fox Hounds operates the sporting activities of the hunt, maintains the kennels, works with (and sometimes is) the huntsman, and spends the money raised by the hunt club. (Often the master or joint masters are the largest of financial contributors to the hunt.) The master will have the final say over all matters in the field.
  • Honorary secretaries are volunteers (usually one in America, two in the UK) who collect the cap (money) from guest riders.
  • A kennelman looks after hounds in kennels, assuring that all tasks are completed when pack and staff return from hunting.
  • The huntsman, often the same person as the kennelman, is responsible for directing the hounds in the course of the hunt. The Huntsman usually carries a horn to communicate to the hounds, followers and whippers in.
  • Whippers-in (or "Whips") are assistants to the huntsman. Their main job is to keep the pack all together, especially to prevent the hounds from straying or 'riotting', which term refers to the hunting of animals other than the hunted fox. To help them to control the pack, they carry hunting whip
    Whip
    A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...

    s (and in America they sometimes also carry .22 revolvers loaded with rat-shot
    Rat-shot
    Rat-shot is very small lead shot which is loaded into a cartridge not generally considered a shotgun shell. Such a cartridge with a shot load is often called a "shot shell". The most common cartridges loaded with rat-shot are the .22 Long Rifle or pistol or revolver cartridges...

     or blanks.) The role of whipper-in in hunts has inspired parliamentary systems (including the Westminster System
    Westminster System
    The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

     and the U.S. Congress
    United States Congress
    The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

    ) to use whip
    Whip (politics)
    A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

    for a member who enforces party discipline and ensure the attendance of other members at important votes.
  • Terrier man—Most hunts where the object is to kill the fox will employ a terrier man, whose job it is to control the terriers
    Working terrier
    A working terrier is a small type of dog which pursues its quarry into the earth. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the name dates back to at least 1440, derived from early modern French terrier - from the medieval Latin terrarius from the Latin terra .With the growth of popularity of...

     which may be used underground to corner or flush the fox. Often voluntary terrier men will follow the hunt as well. In the UK, they often ride quadbikes with their terriers in boxes on their bikes.


In addition to members of the hunt staff, a committee may run the Hunt Supporters Club to organise fundraising and social events and in America many hunts are incorporated and have parallel lines of leadership.

Britain, Ireland and America each have a Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) which consists of current and past masters of foxhounds. This is the governing body for all foxhound packs and deals with disputes about boundaries between hunts.

Attire

Mounted hunt followers typically wear traditional hunting attire. A prominent feature of hunts operating during the formal hunt season (between late October and the end of March) is hunt members wearing 'colours'. This attire consists of the traditional scarlet coats (called pinks or pinques) worn by huntsmen, masters, former masters, whippers-in (regardless of sex), other hunt staff members and male members who have been invited to wear colours as a mark of honour. . Ladies generally wear coloured collars on their black or navy coats. These help them stand out from the rest of the field. Various theories about the derivation of this term have been given, ranging from the colour of a weathered scarlet coat to the name of a purportedly famous tailor.

Some hunts, including most hare hunts, use green rather than red jackets. The colour of breeches
Breeches
Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...

 (riding pants) vary from hunt to hunt and are generally of one colour, though two or three colours throughout the year may be permitted. Boots
Riding boot
A riding boot is a boot made to be used for horse riding. The classic boot comes high enough up the leg to prevent the leathers of the saddle from pinching the leg of the rider, has a sturdy toe to protect the rider's foot when on the ground, and has a distinct heel to prevent the foot from sliding...

 are generally English dress boots (no laces). For the men they are black with brown leather tops (called tan tops), and for the ladies, black with a patent black leather top of similar proportion to the men. Additionally, the number of buttons is significant. The Master of the hunt wears a scarlet coat with four brass buttons while the huntsman and other professional staff wear five. Amateur whippers-in also wear four buttons.

Another differentiation in dress between the amateur and professional staff is found in the ribbons at the back of the hunt cap. The professional staff wear their hat ribbons down, while amateur staff and members of the field wear their ribbons up.

Those members not entitled to wear colours, dress in a black hunt coat and unadorned black buttons for both men and ladies, generally with pale breeches. Boots are all English dress boots and have no other distinctive look. Some hunts also further restrict the wear of formal attire to weekends and holidays and use ratcatcher
Tweed (cloth)
Tweed is a rough, unfinished woolen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is made in either plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern...

 all other times.

Other members of the mounted field follow strict rules of clothing etiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...

. For example, those under eighteen will wear tweed
Tweed (cloth)
Tweed is a rough, unfinished woolen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is made in either plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern...

 jackets, or ratcatcher, all season. Those over eighteen will wear ratcatcher during Autumn hunting from late August until the Opening Meet, normally around November 1. From the Opening Meet they will switch to formal hunting attire where entitled members will wear scarlet and the rest black or navy. The highest honour is to be awarded the hunt button by the Hunt Master. This means you can then wear scarlet if male, or the hunt collar if female (colour varies from hunt to hunt) and buttons with the hunt crest on them.

Controversy

The nature of fox hunting, including the killing of the quarry animal and its strong associations with tradition and social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

 and its practice for sport have made it a source of great controversy within the United Kingdom. In December 1999, the then Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

, Jack Straw MP
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...

, announced the establishment of a Government inquiry (the Burns Inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

) into hunting with dogs, to be chaired by the retired senior civil servant Lord Burns
Terence Burns, Baron Burns
Terence Burns, Baron Burns, GCB is a British economist, made a life peer in 1998 for his services as former Chief Economic Advisor and Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury. He is currently Chairman of Santander UK, Non-Executive Chairman of Glas Cymru, and a Non-Executive Director of Pearson Group...

. The inquiry was to examine the practical aspects of different types of hunting with dogs and its impact, how any ban might be implemented and the consequences of any such ban.

Amongst its findings, the Burns Inquiry committee analysed opposition to hunting in the UK and reported that:
"There are those who have a moral objection to hunting and who are fundamentally opposed to the idea of people gaining pleasure from what they regard as the causing of unnecessary suffering. There are also those who perceive hunting as representing a divisive social class system. Others, as we note below, resent the hunt trespassing on their land, especially when they have been told they are not welcome. They worry about the welfare of the pets and animals and the difficulty of moving around the roads where they live on hunt days. Finally there are those who are concerned about damage to the countryside and other animals, particularly badgers and otters."


Anti-hunting
Anti-hunting
Anti-hunting is a term which is used to identify or describe persons or groups, generally in a political context, who stand in opposition to hunting. It is also used to describe efforts to prevent hunting through legislation and other means which can include acts of civil disobedience such as hunt...

 activists who choose to take action in opposing fox hunting can do so through legal means such as campaigning for fox hunting legislation
Fox hunting legislation
Fox hunting legislation refers to various laws and legislative history related to fox hunting in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.-History:Hunting has been regulated for many centuries, most often for the benefit of the upper class. The word "paradise", for example, comes from a Greek word for...

 and monitoring hunts for cruelty or illegal activities. Main anti-hunting campaign organisations include the RSPCA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...

 and the League Against Cruel Sports
League Against Cruel Sports
The League Against Cruel Sports are an animal welfare organisation that campaigns against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing. It also campaigns to ban the manufacture, sale and use of snares, for the regulation of greyhound racing and for an end to commercial...

. In 2001, the RSPCA took high court action to prevent pro-hunt activists joining in large numbers to change the society's policy in opposing hunting.

Outside of campaigning, some activists choose to engage in direct intervention such as the sabotage
Hunt saboteur
Hunt sabotage is the direct action that animal rights or animal welfare activists undertake to interfere with hunting activity.Anti-hunting campaigners are divided into those who believe in direct intervention and those who watch the hunt to monitor for cruelty and report violations of animal...

 of the hunt. Hunt sabotage is illegal in a majority of the United States, and tactics used (such as trespass
Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.Trespass to the person, historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming...

 and criminal damage) are illegal in other countries.

Fox hunting has been undertaken since the 1500s and in this time, strong traditions have built up around the activity, as have businesses and rural activities and hierarchies. For this reason, there are still large numbers of people who support fox hunting and this can be for a variety of reasons.

Pest control

Foxes are considered vermin
Vermin
Vermin is a term applied to various animal species regarded by some as pests or nuisances and especially to those associated with the carrying of disease. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included will vary from area to area and even person to person...

 by some farmers who fear they might lose valuable livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

, whilst others consider them an ally in controlling rabbits, voles and other rodents. A key reason for dislike of the fox by pastoral farmers is their tendency to commit acts of surplus killing
Surplus killing
Surplus killing is the behavior predators exhibit when they kill more prey than they can immediately use. They may partially consume, cache, or abandon intact prey...

 toward animals such as chickens, yet eat only one of them. Some anti-hunt campaigners maintain that provided it is not disturbed, the fox will remove all of the chickens it kills and conceal them in a safer place.

Opponents of fox hunting claim that the activity is not necessary for fox control, arguing that the fox is not a pest species and that hunting does not and cannot make a real difference to fox populations. They compare the number of foxes killed in the hunt to the many more killed on the roads. They also argue that wildlife management
Wildlife management
Wildlife management attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science. Wildlife management can include game keeping, wildlife conservation and pest control...

 goals of the hunt can be met more effectively by other methods such as lamping
Spotlighting
Spotlighting or Lamping is a method of hunting nocturnal animals using off-road vehicles and high-powered lights, spotlights, lamps or flashlights, that makes special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species. A further important aspect is that many animals Spotlighting or Lamping (also...

(dazzling a fox with a bright light, then shooting by a competent shooter using an appropriate weapon and load).

Fox hunts claim to provide and maintain a good habitat for foxes and other game, and, in the U.S., have been leaders in fostering conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....

 legislation and putting land into conservation easements. Anti hunting campaigners cite the widespread existence of artificial earths, and the historic practice by hunts of introducing foxes, as indicating that hunts do not believe foxes to be pests.

It is also argued that hunting with dogs has the advantage of weeding out old, sick and weak animals because the strongest and healthiest foxes are those most likely to escape. Therefore, unlike other methods of controlling the fox population, it is argued that hunting with dogs resembles natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....

. The counter-argument is given that hunting can not kill old foxes because foxes have a natural death rate of 65% per annum.

In Australia, where foxes have played a major role in the decline in the number of species of wild animals, the Government's Department of the Environment and Heritage concluded that "hunting does not seem to have had a significant or lasting impact on fox numbers." Instead, control of foxes relies heavily on shooting, poisoning and fencing.

There are now many humane methods to control foxes including fox proofing methods such as fences, electric or not, ultrasonic devices, and chemical products. These, in many cases, are far more practical than traditional methods, particularly for smaller areas of land.

Economics

As well as the economic defence of fox hunting that it is necessary to control the population of foxes, lest they cause economic cost to the farmers, it is also argued that fox hunting is a significant economic activity in its own right, providing recreation and jobs for those involved in the hunt and supporting it. The Burns Inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

 identified that between 6,000 and 8,000 full time jobs depend on hunting in the UK, of which about 700 result from direct hunt employment and 1,500 to 3,000 result from direct employment on hunting-related activities.

Since the ban in the UK, there has been no evidence of significant job losses, and hunts have continued to operate along limited lines, either trail hunting, or claiming to use exemptions in the legislation.

Animal welfare and animal rights

Many animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...

 groups, campaigners and activists believe that fox hunting is unfair and cruel to animals. They argue that the chase itself causes fear and distress and that fox is not always killed instantly as hunters claim, but is torn to pieces by hounds. Animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

 campaigners also object to fox hunting, on the grounds that animals should enjoy some basic rights (such as the right to freedom from exploitation and the right to life).

In the United States and Canada, pursuing the quarry for the sheer purpose of killing is strictly forbidden by the Masters of Foxhounds Association. According to article 2 of the organisation's code:
"The sport of fox hunting as it is practised in North America places emphasis on the chase and not the kill. It is inevitable, however, that hounds will at times catch their game. Death is instantaneous. A pack of hounds will account for their quarry by running it to ground, treeing it, or bringing it to bay in some fashion. The Masters of Foxhounds Association has laid down detailed rules to govern the behaviour of Masters of Foxhounds and their packs of hounds."

There are times when a fox or coyote that is injured or sick is caught by the pursuing hounds, but hunts say that the occurrence of an actual kill of this is exceptionally rare.

Supporters of hunting maintain that when a fox is hunted with dogs, it is either killed relatively quickly (instantly or in a matter of seconds) or escapes uninjured. Similarly, they say that the animal rarely endures hours of torment and pursuit by hounds, and research by Oxford University shows that the fox is normally killed after only an average of 17 minutes of chase. They further argue that, while hunting with dogs may cause suffering, controlling fox numbers by other means is even more cruel. Depending on the skill of the shooter, the type of firearm used, the availability of good shooting positions and luck, shooting foxes can cause either an instant kill, or lengthy periods of agony for wounded animals which can die of the trauma within hours, or of secondary infection over a period of days or weeks. Research from wildlife hospitals, however, indicates that it is not uncommon for foxes with shot wounds to survive.  Hunt supporters further say that it is a matter of humanity to kill foxes rather than allow them to suffer malnourishment and mange
Mange
Mange is the common name for a class of persistent contagious skin diseases caused by parasitic mites. Since mites also infect plants, birds, and reptiles, the term "mange," suggesting poor condition of the hairy coat due to the infection, is sometimes reserved only for pathological...

.

Other methods include the use of snares, trapping and poisoning, all of which also cause considerable distress to the animals concerned, and may affect other species. This was considered in the Burns Inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

 (paras 6.60–11), whose tentative conclusion was that lamping
Spotlighting
Spotlighting or Lamping is a method of hunting nocturnal animals using off-road vehicles and high-powered lights, spotlights, lamps or flashlights, that makes special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species. A further important aspect is that many animals Spotlighting or Lamping (also...

 using rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

s fitted with telescopic sight
Telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...

s, if carried out properly and in appropriate circumstances, had fewer adverse welfare implications than hunting. The committee believed that lamping was not possible without vehicular access, and hence said that the welfare of foxes in upland areas could be affected adversely by a ban on hunting with hounds, unless dogs could be used to flush foxes from cover (as is permitted in the Hunting Act 2004
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...

).

Some opponents of hunting criticise the fact that the animal suffering in fox hunting takes place for sport, citing either that this makes such suffering unnecessary and therefore cruel, or else that killing or causing suffering for sport is immoral. The Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

, in considering the British Hunting Act determined that the legislative aim of the Hunting Act was "a composite one of preventing or reducing unnecessary suffering to wild mammals, overlaid by a moral viewpoint that causing suffering to animals for sport is unethical."

Anti-hunting
Anti-hunting
Anti-hunting is a term which is used to identify or describe persons or groups, generally in a political context, who stand in opposition to hunting. It is also used to describe efforts to prevent hunting through legislation and other means which can include acts of civil disobedience such as hunt...

 campaigners also criticised UK hunts of which the Burns Inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

 estimated that fox hunts put down around 3,000 hounds, and the hare hunts who killed around 900 hounds per year, in each case after the dogs' working life had come to an end.

Civil liberties

It is argued by some hunt supporters that no law should curtail the right of a person to do as they wish, so long as it does not harm others. Philosopher Roger Scruton
Roger Scruton
Roger Vernon Scruton is a conservative English philosopher and writer. He is the author of over 30 books, including Art and Imagination , Sexual Desire , The Aesthetics of Music , and A Political Philosophy: Arguments For Conservatism...

 has said, "To criminalise this activity would be to introduce legislation as illiberal as the laws which once deprived Jews and Catholics of political rights, or the laws which outlawed homosexuality". In contrast, liberal philosopher, John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...

 wrote, "The reasons for legal intervention in favour of children apply not less strongly to the case of those unfortunate slaves and victims of the most brutal parts of mankind—the lower animals." The UK's most senior court, the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...

 has decided that a ban on hunting, in the form of the Hunting Act 2004
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...

, does not contravene the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...

, as did the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...

.

Trespass

In its submission to the Burns Inquiry
Burns Inquiry
The Burns Inquiry was a Government committee set up to examine the facts in the debate in the United Kingdom about fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs.-Establishment:...

, the League Against Cruel Sports
League Against Cruel Sports
The League Against Cruel Sports are an animal welfare organisation that campaigns against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing. It also campaigns to ban the manufacture, sale and use of snares, for the regulation of greyhound racing and for an end to commercial...

 presented evidence of over 1,000 cases of trespass
Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.Trespass to the person, historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming...

 by hunts. These included trespass on railway lines and into private gardens. Trespass can occur as the hounds cannot recognise human-created boundaries they are not allowed to cross, and may therefore follow their quarry wherever it goes unless successfully called off. However, in the United Kingdom, trespass is a largely civil matter when performed accidentally.

Nonetheless, in the UK, the criminal offence of 'aggravated trespass' was introduced in 1994 specifically to address the problems caused to fox hunts and other field sports by hunt saboteur
Hunt saboteur
Hunt sabotage is the direct action that animal rights or animal welfare activists undertake to interfere with hunting activity.Anti-hunting campaigners are divided into those who believe in direct intervention and those who watch the hunt to monitor for cruelty and report violations of animal...

s. Hunt saboteurs trespass on private land to monitor or disrupt the hunt, as this is where the hunting activity takes place. For this reason, the hunt saboteur tactics manual presents detailed information on legal issues affecting this activity, especially the Criminal Justice Act. Some hunt monitors also choose to trespass whilst they observe the hunts in progress.

The construction of the law means that hunt saboteurs' behavior may result in charges of criminal aggravated trespass, rather than the less severe offence of civil trespass
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...

. Since the introduction of legislation to restrict hunting with hounds, there has been a level of confusion over the legal status of hunt monitors or saboteurs when trespassing, as if they disrupt the hunt whilst it is not committing an illegal act (as all the hunts claim to be hunting within the law) then they commit an offence, however if the hunt was conducting an illegal act then the criminal offence of trespass may not have been committed.

Available alternatives

Anti hunting campaigners long urged hunts to retain their tradition and equestrian sport by drag hunting
Drag hunting
Drag hunting is a sport in which a group of dogs chase a scent that has been laid over a terrain before the hunt...

, following an artificial scent. However, drag hunting is disliked by some advocates of quarry hunting due to the trail being pre-determined, thereby eliminating the uncertainty present in the live quarry hunt and because they tend to be faster. Supporters contend that while drag hunts can be fast, this need not be the case if the scent line is broken up so that the hounds have to search an area to pick up the line.

Hunt supporters previously claimed that, in the event of a ban, hunts would not be able to convert and that many hounds would have to be put down.

Social life and class issues in the UK

In the UK, supporters of fox hunting regard it as a distinctive part of British culture generally, the basis of traditional crafts and a key part of social life in rural areas, an activity and spectacle enjoyed not only by the riders but also by others such as the unmounted pack which may follow along on foot, bicycle or 4x4. They see the social aspects of hunting as reflecting the demographics of the area; the Home Counties
Home Counties
The home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...

 packs, for example, are very different from those in North Wales and Cumbria, where the hunts are very much the activity of farmers and the working class. The Banwen Miners Hunt has been used as an example, founded in a small Welsh mining village, although its membership now is by no means limited to miners, with a cosmopolitan make up.

Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

, in his 1893 play A Woman of No Importance
A Woman of No Importance
A Woman of No Importance is a play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The play premièred on 19 April 1893 at London's Haymarket Theatre. It is a testimony of Wilde's wit and his brand of dark comedy...

, once famously referred to "the English country gentleman galloping after a fox" as "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable." Even before the time of Wilde, much of the criticism of fox hunting has been couched in terms of social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

. They argue that while more "working class" blood sports such as cock fighting
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters , held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout all states in the United States, Brazil, Australia and in most of Europe. It is still legal in several U.S. territories....

 and badger baiting were long ago outlawed, fox hunting persists, although this argument can be countered with the fact that hare coursing, a more 'working class' sport was outlawed simultaneously to fox hunting with hounds in the UK. Philosopher Roger Scruton believes that the analogy with cock fighting and badger baiting is unfair because these sports were more cruel and did not involve any element of pest control.

John Leech had a series of "Mr. Briggs" cartoons in Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

during the 1850s, which illustrated class issues. More recently the British anarchist group Class War
Class War
Class War is a UK class struggle based group and newspaper originally set up by Ian Bone and others in 1983. It subsequently mutated various forms, becoming specifically anarchist....

 has argued explicitly for disruption of fox hunts on class warfare grounds and even published a book The Rich at Play examining the subject. Other groups with similar aims, such as 'Revolutions per minute' have also published papers which disparage fox hunting on the basis of the social class of its participants.

Polls in the UK have shown that the UK public equally divided as to whether or not hunt objectors hold their views based primarily on class grounds. Some people point to evidence of class bias in the voting patterns in the British House of Commons during voting on the hunting bill 2000-2001, with traditionally working class Labour forcing legislation through against the votes of normally middle and upper class Conservative members.

In popular culture

Fox hunting has inspired artists in several fields to create works which involve the sport. The most famous usage is in the Daniel P Mannix
Daniel Pratt Mannix IV
Daniel Pratt Mannix IV , born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, was an author, journalist, photographer, side-show performer, stage magician, animal trainer, and film-maker...

 1967 novel titled The Fox and the Hound
The Fox and the Hound (novel)
The Fox and the Hound is a 1967 novel written by American novelist Daniel P. Mannix and illustrated by John Schoenherr. It follows the lives of Tod, a red fox raised by a human for the first year of his life, and Copper, a half-bloodhound dog owned by a local hunter, referred to as the Master...

which follows a story of a fox called Tod and a hound called Copper. This story was subsequently used by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

 to create the animated feature length film The Fox and the Hound
The Fox and the Hound (film)
The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 animated feature loosely based on the Daniel P. Mannix novel of the same name, produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in the United States on July 10, 1981...

in 1981, although the film differs from the novel in that Tod and Copper befriend each other and survive as friends. Other children's books which involve fox characters becoming involved with a hunt or being hunted include The Animals of Farthing Wood, and Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...

's Fantastic Mr Fox. Poet Laureate John Masefield
John Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...

 wrote "Reynard the Fox", a poem about a fox hunt in rural England in which the title character escapes. In a Conan Doyle story, the French officer Brigadier Gerard
Brigadier Gerard
Brigadier Gerard is the hero of a series of comic short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The hero, Etienne Gerard, is a Hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest...

 joins an English fox hunt, but commits the unpardonable sin of slaying the fox with his sabre. Author Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time...

 has authored a series of fox-hunting mysteries starring "Sister" Jane Arnold, starting with Outfoxed in 2000. In real life, Brown is the master of the Oak Ridge Fox Hunt Club.

There have also been several musical artists who have used fox hunting, with both Ray Noble
Ray Noble (musician)
Ray Noble was an English bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day...

 and George Formby recording Tan Tan Tivvy Tally Ho!, a comic song about fox hunting, in 1932 and 1938 respectively. More recently Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...

 used the concept of a fox-hunt for his video of Sirens
Sirens (song)
"Sirens" is the seventh single release from British rapper Dizzee Rascal, and the lead single from his third studio album Maths + English.The single was playlisted on BBC Radio 1's 1-Upfront list and the music video for the single made the top thirty of that chart...

, showing a stylised urban hunt. The foxhunt is a prominent feature of the 1963 movie The List of Adrian Messenger
The List of Adrian Messenger
The List of Adrian Messenger is a 1963 black and white crime thriller about a retired British intelligence officer investigating a series of apparently unrelated deaths. It is directed by acclaimed film director John Huston...

. Sting has also written and recorded a song that references a pair of foxes during a hunt, called "The End of the Game."

See also

  • Animal welfare
    Animal welfare
    Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...

  • Anti-hunting
    Anti-hunting
    Anti-hunting is a term which is used to identify or describe persons or groups, generally in a political context, who stand in opposition to hunting. It is also used to describe efforts to prevent hunting through legislation and other means which can include acts of civil disobedience such as hunt...

  • Beagling
    Beagling
    Beagling is the hunting of hares, rabbits, and occasionally foxes with beagles. A beagle pack is usually followed on foot. However, there is one pack of beagles in the U.S. which are distinguished as being the only hunting pack to hunt fox and be followed on horseback...

  • Beagling on horseback
  • Deer hunting
    Deer hunting
    Deer hunting is survival hunting or sport hunting, harvesting deer, dating back to tens of thousands of years ago. Which occurred though out Europe Asia and North America There are numerous types of deer throughout the world that are hunted.- New Zealand :...

  • Fox tossing
    Fox tossing
    Fox tossing was a popular competitive blood sport in parts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, which involved throwing live foxes and other animals high into the air.-Background:...

  • Hare coursing
    Hare coursing
    Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...

  • Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom
    Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom
    Hunting and shooting have been practised for many centuries in the United Kingdom and, in some areas, are a major part of British rural culture...

  • List of fox hunts in the United Kingdom
  • Wolf hunting
    Wolf hunting
    Wolf hunting is the practice of hunting grey wolves or other lupine animals. Wolves are mainly hunted for sport, for their skins, to protect livestock, and, in some rare cases, to protect humans. Wolves have been actively hunted since 12,000 to 13,000 years ago, when they first began to pose...


External links

General
News media
  • The Hunting Debate from BBC News
    BBC News
    BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

  • Special Report: Hunting from The Guardian
    The Guardian
    The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...


Hunting and pro-hunting organisations
Anti-hunting organisations
Government reports
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK