Naturalist.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 422, 26 May 1904, Page 7

Naturalist.

AFTEB BABBITS. |H THOUGHT there was no form of ! §l§ ua tiag within the United Kingdom g§§ with which I was unacquainted. I have hunted the deer* both wild and catted, the crafty fox, and the speedy hare on horseback with harriers, and on foot with beagles. I have enjoyed early morning walks with otter hounds, and joined in midnight raids on the badger with a-' mixed' pack;. bat rh invitation to hunt with> a pack &£ Pocket' hounds struck me as a decided novelty. The scene of ' the meet' was a large private park in the neighbourhood of the New forest. Dotted about the- green sward, some 2CO yards apart, were clumps of trees, shrubs, and thick underwood, with here and there a patch of gerse. The previous evening a ferret had been run through the rabbit.holes and the tenants evicted, the burrows being then carefully stopped At the appointed hour a pony carriage drove up, packed with two large baskets, the driver having a third and smaller one under his feet. These baskets being caref ally removed and opened, presented an extraordinary sight no less than ten'and a half couples of hounds bounding out on to the grass. Bat such ' hounds'! So small that it--is hardly an exaggeration. to write that any one would fit comfort-' ably into a shooting coat pocket. Ten inches I found 46 be the average height; and to appreciate the curiosity, let the reader cut a stick exactly ten inches long and then imagine a pack of hounds that height. Yet there they were, perfect ' hounds' in miniature—the beautiful old beagle blue mottle, the brilliant black, white, and tan, the favourite hare pie, forming a picture on the short green" grass '" of that English park which will not soon be forgotten, People now commenced to stroll up in small parties of twos and threes ; elderly gentlemen with hair frosted by time and limbs less lissom than formerly, bat with hearts as responsive as ever to.' the music of th e hounds *; one or two younger men, looking, I thought, a?trifle supercilious; lots of boys home from school, and girls in short leather-bound skrts. A few" minutes for greetings and conversation, then the Master gives.the word, and in ja moment the eager and beautiful little. pack race away-for. the fi^st 'slump ; blank—and on to the shrubbery. * Hardly had the pigmy'hounds entered than one ' spoke.' Instantly the whole pact rushed to the spot i one moment's hesitation to verify the news, then a joyful burst of music from twenty tiny throats announced that bunny was really there; and that they were on the line. The excited, joyful expectancy depicted on tbe. little, tiaces, and the business-like lashing of sterns was both comic and fascinating. How they rattled that rabbit up and down the plantation! And what escapes he had, in'full view of us"all! But presently a Bhout from a watchful spectator at a' distant corner announced thai; our 'game' had left his precious shelter, and was making across the park for a distant patch of furze. Now a master of fcx-hounds would blow his horn and clap the hounds on as quickly as possible, but not so when hunting rabbits; the object is to keep bunny running as long as possible, not to press him too hard, and to give him breathing time. So the pack received no assistance from the Master. Before long there was a cessation of the music, and at first one and then another of the little hounds" appeared' from the bushes, they wore a puzzled and anxious expression, which said as plainly as words, ' Now, where the deuce has that rabbit gone F' Presently, an old and experienced hound, himself about the size of a rabbit, carefully tried the ground outside.' Eh!" what! No! Yes I Certainly he has gone here, and throwing up his head he gave an ecstatic yowl, which brought the entire pack rushing headlong from all directions Eight? Yes, of course he is right. Whoever knew him to tell a lie F And the scent is good on the nice open turf, the Master gives a cheer, and they all sweep away with a chorus of music which does the heart good. Giving ourselves up to the excitemeat of the moment, we all run likel-vtaatlcs, laughing, talking, gasping after he pocket bounds and the vanishing rabbit. Bunny had gone on to a hedgerow of which he knew, and hounds, hardly pausing in the furze, and throwing their £it le tongues in a frenzy of delight, raced along at a pace which beat the beat of us,