We have had a fairly busy week. One of us was out on Wednesday to keep tabs on the Ross Harriers from Longhope where they had their children’s meet. Very poor scenting conditions combined with pre-spraying meant that they did very little and packed up at 13.30 (not unusual for a children’s meet). We are also out sett surveying and preparing for a week of Opening Meets.

Yesterday we found them at Hallwood Green. Again scent was poor and not much happened until they went into a field near Kempley. Simon Dunn, huntsman and joint master, was off his horse and drawing on foot when a fox ran and was followed by the entire pack in full cry. A very dangerous situation then arose in which the pack were hunting without any human control whatsoever for about half an hour. As the whipper in, Turkey, frantically galloped down the road sabs followed. No major catastrophe occurred that we know of but the A449 was near where hounds were eventually found as we watched Turkey call them back. We found one and handed him back, poor creature was terrified of humans. An entire pack of hounds hunting unsupervised is a very dangerous thing indeed to all other animals and road users.

We hoped that they had finished but alas no. They hunted around the woods at the meet which are both extensive and thick. Bizarrely a local Jack Russell terrier decided to accompany sabs and was very much on side telling the hounds off and even when we sprayed the line of a fox cocked his leg and joined in! The fox was clearly trying to get to an enormous badger sett, where he would have been safe, and so we stood right back. A hunt follower stood on the sett so the fox ran around him and onwards through a field. We stopped most of the pack but the lead hound was away chasing the fox alone for some minutes before the rest of the pack got through. It was getting dark by the time they abandoned the chase. We returned to the car with our new friend who was handed back to his, very relieved, person.