Fantastic Mr. Fox aflight

The morning dawned overcast and blah. I went out for my usual stroll and was almost to my turn-around point with nothing to report: no dogs or people on the trail, no horses, no cows, when I saw a man on an ATV come down the road and stop. I could tell he was waiting for me to exit the field through which I had just come, but had no idea why. I climbed over the stile, and just then, way up ahead, I saw two dogs! Oh good, the day's not lost. And then another dog, and another, and another two, and now I became a bit concerned. What kind of dog swarm was this? Around 50 dogs came around the corner and flew down the street and then I recognized them for large hounds. Unfortunately I was so surprised I didn't manage to snap a picture until most of the pack was past. The horses came soon after. All the riders identically dressed in green jackets. They were quite friendly and everyone said, "hi" which meant I was busy saying, "good morning," and of course my next picture-taking moment had passed. I'm really dreadful with a camera.

It took me a bit to wrap my head around the fact that a fox hunt had just passed me. And then I realized that I wanted more pictures, so I turned around and started heading back the way they went. I kept hearing the bugle blowing and the hounds barking and the horses' hooves clopping, but I didn't catch up to them again until a large field close to home. Just this morning I had noticed the tender crop growing in this field and was shocked to watch the dogs bounding all over it, men in horses trying to direct them. While standing at the gate to this field I was joined by a construction worker having his coffee break. He asked if I followed the hunt and I admitted it was the first one I'd seen. He told me the fox had gone speeding up the street right past him. Trying to save the fox he'd told the riders the fox went the other way, but they trusted their dogs more than him. Finally he mentioned that he thought fox hunting was outlawed.

Trying for one more picture I followed the sound of the hunt down a footpath right by our cottage. I could hear the hounds baying and tromping in the nearby brush, but I couldn't get to the open field where I might have a better view because my way was blocked by a hunter on a horse facing away from me. I really have no experience with horses, they've never been a favorite animal of mine, and all I know is you don't come up behind a horse, so I stayed where I was. But then I heard a beater in the bushes right by me, the ATV driver! And it sounded like the fox and hounds were coming right at me, so I hot footed it back to a safer spot. The fox must have been flushed because the dogs and horses then took off across the next field. Now I moved forward for a closer look, and discovered a man with a giant owl on his arm! As the man walked past me, the owl, who was totally perturbed by the hound fury he had just witnessed in close proximity, spread his wings, grazing the top of my head as they passed. Of course at that moment I realized I again had missed an incredible photo opportunity. Somebody should confiscate my camera.

When I came home, I looked up fox hunting in the UK. It was indeed outlawed in 2005, however a few loopholes still exist. While hunting with dogs is forbidden, hunting with bird of prey is not. So many hunting groups argue that the dogs are merely flushing the fox out for the bird of prey. From what I read, that's laughable because no bird of prey is going to hunt while there are 50 hounds in the vicinity, and from what I saw this morning? That owl was no exception.

I am glad I didn't know that hunting was illegal before this morning. It was awfully exciting to watch the hunt, and the dogs were having such a great time. The construction worker said the fox usually gets away, so that makes me feel a bit better. Still, I can understand why the country is so torn about banning hound hunting. It was so very British and I'm sure there's nothing like the adrenaline rush for the hunters on horses jumping fences and hedges in pursuit. But I hope all the foxes are as cunning as Fantastic Mr. Fox.