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Last year, we published two articles looking at the year-round management of artificial earths by fox hunts to ensure they have plenty of foxes to hunt in certain locations come the start of the season.
We’ve exposed numerous incidents involving this barbaric practice over the years and recently our videos of their use have featured in exposes on national news channels. There can be no better evidence that fox hunting continues unabated across Britain since the 2005 act banning hunting with hounds came into force. The smokescreen of ‘Trail Hunting’ is well and truly dispersed on the winds of artificial earth usage. Despite this, many hunts terriermen continue to construct and maintain them. As the main fox hunting season is now at an end but vegetation is yet to fully obscure artificial earths then what better time to remind ourselves what to look out for when enjoying time in the countryside over the coming months.
Typically they consist of an underground – but often accessible via a concrete paving slab – brick lined chamber linked to two or more tunnels providing entry and access points at ground level. The tunnels consist of 9” plastic pipes and sometimes the access to them also has a brick structure. The entrances are often restricted by rocks, paving slabs or logs, known as a faggot, to prevent the habitation of badgers when not already inhabited by foxes, and also to prevent fox cubs from fleeing.
Spring will be the time when terrier men will be cleaning out vacant underground chambers, undertaking repairs where necessary or constructing completely new structures. Particularly relevant when a hunt has lost access to an area of their former hunting ‘country’ – which is now a frequent occurrence as landowners increasingly favour gamebird shooting as their bloodsport of choice.
Throughout May and June, fox cubs will be old enough to be taken from their mothers – often kept in other artificial earths. Terrier men will relocate the cubs into vacant artificial earths and hold them captive. This is achieved by blocking the entrance tunnels or being kept in a cage in the underground chamber.
The captive cubs will be fed, usually with chickens, rabbits and crows. Once the cubs have reached around twelve weeks old, the cages and tunnel blocking is removed but more often than not, feeding will continue and habitually, most will remain in the vicinity of the earth and provide an easy supply of quarry come the ‘autumn hunting’ (e.g. cubbing) and main hunting season.
They are usually located in larger woodlands, in and around hunt meets. Traditional locations will often be woods planted by a hunt in years gone by. They almost always have ‘Covert’, ‘Spinney’, ‘Furze’, ‘Halt/Holt’, ‘Gorse’ or ‘Rough’ in their names on maps and are square or rectangular in shape. As mentioned above, hunts are now losing much of their hunting grounds and are having to find new locations. Basically, it’s a fair chance that there will be an artificial earth in an area where a fox pack routinely hunts and their use is not limited to any particular region.
The terrier men will ideally want easy access, meaning they’ll often be situated near the outskirts of the wood or near to a route the hunts horses will take on a hunting day. Foxes will automatically want to seek refuge in the earth when a hunt is nearby and so the entrances will be facing in the direction the hunt will want foxes to run when the terriermen force them out to be pursued by the pack.
There may also be quad tyre tracks making well-worn paths to them as the terrier men make regular visits. Closer still, there will be other clues such as breeze blocks, bricks and logs around entrances to be used as blocking on the tunnels. Often animal bones will strewn around the site as feeding continues throughout the summer.
Artificial earths are an obvious indication of illegal activity.
If you happen to find one while enjoying the countryside, if possible take a What3Words (W3W) location, or an Ordnance Survey (OS) Grid Reference if you have the OS App on your phone, or even a Google pin – but please try and take the pin, or grid, or W3W as you are at the artificial earth rather than try and work it out later. Try and take images if you can and send them to your local group, they can help or advise further on monitoring.
If you don’t know who your local group is, you can find your local group here or you can tip us off on 07443 148 426.
We will publish an ‘Autumn & Winter Refresher’ later in the year as we approach the new fox hunting season.
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