Matthew Higgs
Beagles Column
Matthew Higgs
It seems a long time ago - but was actually only early in December - when talking to a farmer in his yard in the Chilterns, we were astonished to find bats hawking flies above us on an extraordinarily mild evening. Sadly both they and we have had a rude shock since then in the form of some pretty severe cold weather.
I remember as a child the bitter disappointment of losing precious hunting fixtures in the all too short Christmas holidays, to the hard weather year upon year. Even a decent fall of snow with all its attendant excitements would fail to alleviate the frustration of not going hunting. Perhaps those days - now I share the decision whether to hunt or not in the frost - are the reason for my determination to go if at all possible.
I think it was Brian Fanshawe, writing in an article in Horse and Hound many years ago, who said he approached each day’s sport as if it might be the only outing for some imaginary follower, and so should ensure the follower received every possibility out of it he could. That is a good philosophy.
Safety must of course be the overriding concern and if the roads are icy, and there is a lot of traffic about, it is as well not to go. I well remember the cold fear (no pun intended) of a day near St Albans early in my time as a huntsman when on a very cold afternoon hounds slipped away from us on a screaming scent (we thought perhaps into St Albans itself!), and on reaching the road we realised there was a lot of black ice. It was not a comfortable thought to imagine hounds crossing a road on their own. Fortunately we found them still running hard in the huge Simonshyde Wood having swung through us unseen. All was well, but it was a salutary lesson.
Care too must be taken if there are large expanses of frozen water in the area not to repeat the tragedy the Pytchley endured when their bitches plunged through the ice on the lake in Fawsley Park in the late nineteenth century. But otherwise I feel there is no harm in going if only for an hour or two, though there is a danger of course that once started it may be difficult to stop.
Hounds feet do of course suffer and all the skills of an excellent kennel huntsman may be required on the return home. But the risks, I feel, are no more than in some of the dry autumns we have endured. Now we trail hunt there is not the danger of a prolonged course in view over rock-hard plough that we might have seen hunting live quarry. More care is perhaps warranted when there is snow lying as hounds with wet feet are more likely to incur damage, than just on the frost.
To avoid too much damage it may be necessary to take out smaller packs than usual to rest hounds more frequently but there should be no reason to stop. Indeed it astonished me to hear one experienced huntsman argue he could not go out since with only thirty couple in kennels - he could not afford to lame any hounds!
It was also odd to find one or two beagle packs deciding not to hunt through the cold weather when their neighbouring foxhounds were out, albeit on foot. One would have thought a heavier foxhound might be more likely to lame itself than a beagle but, as always, it should be up to each pack to make its own decisions.
One happy result of continuing to honour our fixtures through the frost has been the number of visitors we have had, and it is good to have had the chance to catch up with friends from other beagle packs, and some foxhunter packs too. I think we have managed to send most of the latter home more respectful of their mounts than before, having discovered just how hard work it can be to get across the country on foot.
We’ve had the chance to gossip afterwards, and as always at this time of year the talk has turned to who is going where. The news that both the Old Berkeley and the Newcastle are looking for huntsmen next year is significant, and as ever I worry when professionals seem in short supply. The former position is I believe filled, and an announcement will be forthcoming shortly.
Hunt service is of course a vocation as much as a career, but it is not an easy choice even for the most dedicated, especially in the surreal state the ban has placed us in (yet another reason to campaign for repeal). We owe it to all our hunt staff to give them the best conditions of employment we possibly can.
To add to the frustration of losing fixtures to the weather, there is also the risk of kennel cough and the Per Ardua, who keep their hounds with the South Notts Foxhound kennels, are one beagle pack which have lost meets over Christmas.
The Hunting Office is appealing to all hunts struck down with
a virus to liase through their vet with the Animal Health Trust
There appears to be an increasing threat from the three viruses responsible for kennel cough, and the Hunting Office is appealing to all hunts struck down to liaise through their vet with the Animal Health Trust, so they can gain more experience of them.
Two of the viruses - the most common para influenza, and the more severe bordetella bronchiseptica, can be treated with nasal vaccines. Certainly the talk is of several foxhound packs considering this approach as the cost of vaccinating the pack is comparable to the amount lost from as little as a week’s fixtures when field monies and so on are considered.
It will be a less easy decision for beagle packs whose receipts from a day’s hunting are of course a lot lower, and the relative expense proportionately therefore a lot more. The greatest concern is with the third virus responsible for canine influenza. This virus has proven links with equine influenza, and as yet there is no efficacious vaccine. A severe canine influenza epidemic would be a very serious worry indeed and we must hope the vets will come up with a solution soon.
In the December issue of TMV I noted that some packs were reporting seeing fewer hares on their outings than they expected. I expressed the hope that this was due to the extended drilling period for winter cereals (because of the wet weather this autumn) and things would be different once those crops had established, and hares moved back out from the woods and hedgerows.
Interestingly, on a recent hugely enjoyable day’s trailing with the Dummer, we found ourselves in an area they had only seen one hare earlier in the season. On this occasion, with winter beans poking through the ground over a large acreage of the area, and winter wheat up in the rows, we saw at least two and a half brace of hares.
Steve Duckmanton (Dummer Huntsman) at one point had to run hard to prevent his hounds setting off on one away from his selected trail. With luck all is well!
Matthew Higgs