Fox hunting history

Using scenthounds to track prey dates back toabolished, which meant anyone could obtain a
Assyrian, Babylonian and ancient Egyptian times,permit to take rabbits, hares and gamebirds.
and is known as venery. In England, hunting withAlthough viewed as a typically traditional rural
hounds was popular before the Romans arrived,British activity, hunting with hounds takes place all
using the Agassaei breed. The Romans broughtover the world. Hunts in the United States,
their Castorian and Fulpine hound breeds, alongCanada, Ireland and India are legacies of the
with importing the brown hare (the mountain hareBritish Empire to some extent, although some
is native) and additional species of deer as quarry.claim that the first pack devoted to hunting only
Wild boar was also hunted. The Norman huntingfox was located in the United States. According
traditions were added when William the Conquerorto the Masters of Foxhounds Association of
arrived, along with the Gascon and Talbot hounds;America (which also covers Canada)[6],
indeed, the traditional hunting cry 'tally ho' derivesEnglishman Robert Brooke introduced fox hunting
from the Norman French equivalent of 'il est haut'to Maryland, America in 1650 when he imported
(he is up); ie. the stag has started running. Byhis horses, his slaves (not hunt servants as has
1340 the four beasts of venery were the hare,been suggested) and a pack of fox hounds. It has
the hart, the wolf and the wild boar. The fivealso been suggested that he imported 24 red
beasts of the chase were the buck, the doe, thefoxes from England[citation needed] (since red
fox, the marten and the roe.fox was not indigenous to North America). In
The earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with2006 the Masters of Foxhounds Association of
hounds was in Norfolk, England, in 1534, whereAmerica included 168 registered packs in the U.S.
farmers began chasing down foxes with theirand Canada, and there are many additional farmer
dogs as pest control. By the end of the(non-recognized) packs.
seventeenth century many organised packs wereIn Australia, the European red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
hunting both hare and fox, and during thewas introduced solely for the purpose of fox
eighteenth century packs specifically for foxhunting in 1855. Native animal populations of a
hunting were appearing. The passing of the"critical weight range" have been very badly
Enclosure Acts from 1760 to 1840 had madeeffected by the spread of foxes. Some state
hunting deer much more difficult in many areas ofgovernments have offered bounties per fox to
the country, as that requires great areas of openhelp with the problem. In Tasmania, which until
land. Also, the new fences made jumping the2001 has been fox free, a large reward of $1000
obstacles separating the fields part of the huntingper fox is offered and $50,000 for information of
tradition. With the onset of the Industrialthe introduction. Generally foxes are controlled
Revolution, people began to move out of thewith baits or spotlighted by farmers, who identify
country and into towns and cities to find work.foxes by the eyeshine signature (from the
Roads, rail and canals split the hunting country, buttapetum in the eye), body shape and silhouette.
also made hunting accessible to more people.Many other Greek- and Roman-influenced
Shotguns were improved during the nineteenthcountries have their own long tradition of hunting
century and game shooting became more popular.with hounds. France and Italy for example, have
To protect the pheasants for the shooters,thriving fox hunts. In Switzerland and Germany,
gamekeepers culled the foxes almost towhere fox hunting was once popular, the activity
extirpation in popular areas, which caused thehas been outlawed, although Germany continues
huntsmen to improve their coverts. Finally theto allow deer to be driven by dogs to guns.
Game Laws were relaxed in 1831 and later