A small team of us went out yesterday morning to check up on the Eggesford Hunt, who were meeting at Westacott on the edge of Riddlecombe. With it being a mounted cubbing meet, we didn’t expect them to go far, and indeed they stayed almost exclusively on the Middletons’ land between Dolton Beacon and Riddlecombe.
Within minutes of leaving the meet, hounds had marked a fox to ground in a large badger sett that is well-known to us from years of sabbing the hunt here. The sett bears the scars of repeated digouts over the years. Because we knew it was almost a certainty that a fox would go to ground there, we positioned ourselves well to witness exactly that and to pull the hounds off the sett when it happened.
Minutes after the hunt moved on from the first sett, the fox bolted and ran off. Unfortunately we knew this was likely only the first of multiple laps of these woods. Sure enough, a short while later what we assume was probably the same fox came darting back across the field in direction of the sett, with hounds in pursuit. Huntsman Jason Marles congratulated his hounds for putting the fox to ground again and allowed them to remain on top of the sett, scratching and digging at several holes for long enough that they did considerable damage to the sett entrances.
By now it was only 9.30am. The hunt moved further east, drawing dense hedges and patches of scrub around Westacott and East Westacott and terrorising cows and sheep. Why any conscientious farmer (…) would allow them to do this to their animals is beyond us. Another sett, this time in a thick hawthorn hedge, was marked by hounds, indicating that a fox had gone to ground there too. As our foot team made their way to the location, our drone filmed hounds being allowed once again to trash multiple sett entrances.
The rest of the morning was spent in the valley south of East Westacott. Several foxes were put up and had to run for their lives. Both of Jason’s new wannabe prodigies were busy whizzing around on their quadbikes, helping round up hounds and pointing out the direction foxes had been seen running. Jason has rather a habit of grooming young guys to be his little minions (and previously one older one too!), hiring them as whipper-ins and deluding them into thinking that they will be considered valuable team members. One after another they leave, claiming they were bullied and taken advantage of. Just ask Nathan Bowes, Alex Warden, Gary Rowe and Josh Smith. With the last one the relationship lasted barely a few months. The latest job vacancy advertised by the Eggesford Hunt was for an unpaid kennel hand as opposed to a paid whipper-in. At least they’ve decided it’s worth finally being honest about how Jason’s minions will be treated!
Between foot team, vehicle and drone we were able to keep a close eye on the hounds’ and foxes’ movements for the rest of the morning and we are confident they didn’t kill above ground. However, on their way back to the meet hounds darted across a field in full cry and piled into a hedge. It wasn’t clear at first if this was a kill or another mark, but foot sabs were quickly able to establish it was the latter. There were several small holes in the hedge, just wide enough for a fox to have taken refuge.
We’re used to this with the Eggesford Hunt. Not only do they blatantly hunt foxes in the open in full view of everyone watching, but they’ll also allow hounds to trash badger setts and will return to a sett to digout a fox that’s gone to ground. It’s exactly what we got two of their terriermen convicted of in court just a few years ago. We made certain that none of yesterday’s foxes were subsequently dugout, which they almost certainly would have been if we hadn’t been there.
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