Having been followed by 3C sabs all day on Monday 30th, the Ledbury met at Gadbury Bank in Eldersfield today in the Gloucestershire cull zone (an area which is owned by them). They drew a blank there so quickly moved on to Pigeon House Farm. It was there that a brace (2 foxes) fled from the undergrowth away from Tim Pearce May (whipper in) who was trying to frighten them in the traditional way by slapping his whip onto his boot. One of these foxes was very clearly caught on camera and can be seen in the video. The pack were encouraged on, despite being told that the foxes were on camera, and some hollowing by sabs lifted their heads a little so that some time was given for the foxes to escape. A sab inland managed to spray a covert with citronella stopping the pack in their tracks and the fox was seen escaping once the hounds had left.
On then to Berth Hill where a fox ran fast towards Corse Lawn. We managed to slow most of the pack down but they hunted on. Later a fox was marked to ground near Tirley. Terriers were called for but with a sab present with a camera they thought better of digging out – both huntsman and whipper-in were on foot, the excuse being going for a wee… together. We went back later to make sure and found the terrier man talking to Tim Pearce May, both looking decidedly shifty.
We drove back through Town Street Farm, owned by Roger Warner. Roger was a Ledbury master and is a beef farmer signed up for the badger cull. An eagle-eyed sab then saw the quad bike practically opposite Roger’s house. On approaching the quad we saw the driver panic, juggling things and driving off really quickly. A terrier man was seen almost trying to hide from sabs in the hedge with his torch giving him away. Sabs arrived at the scene to find a large drainage pipe and heard a terrier marking, ie barking and growling, at a fox inside.
The terrier man left behind was a bit flummoxed and decidedly shitty pants at being caught out. Sabs told him that he should call his dog out and stood back to enable him to do this. He was carrying a locator (a radio device which can transmit to another device on the terrier’s collar) and phoning the whipper-in, Tim. Before long a large Patterdale terrier called Nel emerged safe and well and he ran off with her leaving the fox unharmed, saying that sheis a poodle was “after rabbits”… well, if she was we think that she would have killed them as opposed to marking them. Local wildlife officers have been informed.
Because of all this, we did lose the hunt for some time so can’t confirm a no-kill day, but as hunt terrier men are capable of killing more animals than the hunt and hounds, we had to prioritise and today was certainly a success!
See you in the fields.