EGGESFORD HUNT KILL FOX
Yesterday Eggesford Hunt killed a fox. Upon reviewing footage from the incident, we are certain this fox was thrown to the hounds by terriermen. Read on and watch the footage below to see for yourself.
These days Eggesford have more of a quadbike following than they have riders. A handful of quads equipped with terriers and terriermen desperate to dig out a fox were following them around all day. They were hunting in the Iddesleigh/Monkokehampton area, drawing fields and woods around Ash House, Beerland, Ingleigh Green, Hawksland and Middlecott before turning tail and heading west towards Mill Farm, Iddesleigh Bridge, Nethercott Barton, Bridge Town and Rectory Farm.
We had several teams of sabs on foot, as well as our drone which was keeping tabs on their movements and filming from the sky. Our runners stuck with hounds most of the day and multiple foxes were seen to safety. At least three foxes were marked to ground at various points but we guarded these locations to prevent a digout. Terriermen would arrive at the scene only to find sabs already there waiting. Despite what happened later, there is no doubt that numerous foxes are alive today because sabs were there.
At one point sabs were running with the hunt and witnessed one of the riders carelessly trampling a hound. The rider lashed out, beating the horse hard with his riding crop. Horses, hounds, foxes, companion animals and farm animals are all victims of the hunt. Towards the end of the day, the hunt were on land they had no permission to be on and hounds were causing havoc amongst a flock of sheep. We could hear the landowner shouting at huntsman Jason Marles and being completely ignored by him.
Not long after that, this footage was taken. You can see two sabs following Jason and hounds along the road towards Weekmoor Cross. He points at a field and shortly after enters that field with the hounds. A quadbike with two terriermen is in the field with him. One terrierman is standing to the right of the quad, doing something with one of the boxes on the quad (this is hard to see, but watch in HD, zoom in, go frame by frame and you’ll see it). Meanwhile the other terrierman has closed the gate and tells sabs to “hold on” while looking over towards where the quadbike is parked. He clearly knows something is about to happen. The hounds are just in front of the quad. The quad drives off. Seconds later, hounds are tearing at the fox’s body. Jason rides over to sabs and claims that “a rabbit jumped out” (of the hedge). Sabs then run in and retrieve the fox’s body.
We can’t say for certain whether the fox was still alive when he was thrown to the hounds. Hunts sometimes bring live foxes (‘bag foxes’) along to release to hounds for a guaranteed chase. It’s possible this fox was dug out earlier in the day and held captive. The fox might have been stunned and confused when he was released from the quad, failed to run and was killed instantly. The other possibility is that the terriermen had freshly dugout and killed the fox from somewhere nearby and had arranged to meet hounds in this field to throw them the body as a reward. We wouldn’t put it past this hunt to do this in front of sabs as a show of defiance after they’d had an otherwise frustrating day. There was no sign on the fox’s freshly mauled body that he’d been shot but he was still warm when sabs picked him up, so had either been killed just then or shortly before.
Whatever the precise detail, Eggesford Hunt killed this fox yesterday and tried to pretend it was a rabbit. Whether hunts claim they’re trail-hunting or rabbit-hunting (which, believe it or not, was Jason’s latest lie when being investigated by police for another incident!), the truth is revealed again and again.