More than just Badgers

First off apologies for the lack of updates, this time of year is stupidly busy as the hunting season reaches it’s zenith over the holiday period. Most people who take an interest in our activities will have no doubt heard the story of the Fitzwilliam hound tragically killed on the A14 recently (full story here) and I’m not going to go over it all again but instead perhaps offer what could be an explanation as to why it happened in the first place.

Now after the incident the pro hunt side were very quick in going into damage limitation mode and discredit the images and video supplied by those that were there. These ranged from the daft to the downright ridiculous. The most common claim was that the hound in the picture was in fact a Labrador and even one said it was a giant Corgi, seriously, I kid you not. There were also claims the fox (which was clear to see by all but the most myopic) was a pheasant and as expected that it was the fault of sabs for calling the hounds on to the road.

At this point I feel the need to dispel any of the pro hunt myths that this is something any sab would consider. The harming of any animal is so contrary to the very basis of our ideology that it is utterly laughable. We know that both hounds and horses are also victims of the hunting business and not just the wildlife that is hunted and killed.

Moving on tt’s pretty clear in the video that if it wasn’t for the actions of the sabs present then the incident could have been a significantly worse and it was only down to their actions that not more hounds and indeed people that were killed on a very fast bit of dual carriageway.

So lets put a bit of context to how the Fitzwilliam were hunting on that day.

As is usual they were claiming to follow a trail but also had resident budgie trainer John Mease skulking about with his Eagle although some distance from the hounds. This dual lie is of course complete nonsense and not legal in any sense but just to add a little extra to the pot lets have a look at the land on which they were hunting.

The A14 is the large green road showing diagonally across the map above. The wind was very blustery and blowing from the north. Now you could quite easily suggest that even being that close to the A14 with a loose pack of hounds to be highly questionable at best, and at worst, just completely reckless. Lets take a look closer from Google.

There’s a small covert called George’s Thorns in the bottom right corner of the photo (the one shown in full). Let’s take a guess who owns that . . .

The Milton Estate, or in simpler terms, the Fitzwilliam Hunt.

The other day I was sent a couple of photos and a short explanation of what they were showing by an anonymous supporter. They pointed out that in that covert is a badger sett. A badger sett which had very recently been interfered with which is of course illegal in itself. It looked like it had been dug out and refilled. We all know the role of terrier men within the hunt. Their sole purpose has nothing to do with mending fences but to dig out or bolt foxes when they seek sanctuary underground.

Here are the pictures.

This area has clearly been created by human activity. You can see spade marks in the earth and the area has been cleared of growth and the usual detritus one would assume on the edge of a wood. It’s then obviously been back filled after whatever activity had been completed.

Now consider that a fox was seen and filmed fleeing the hounds from the direction of the covert in question. Had the Fitzwilliam hunted a fox to ground and then dug it out prior to the hound being killed on the road? They were certainly unaware of the presence of sabs at that location as they were on a footpath a short distance away but hidden from view by a hedge and reports from the day suggest hounds had been speaking prior to the incident. If they believed they were away from prying eyes they may have been empowered enough to commit these acts of criminality.

If they did indeed dig out the fox it would only go further in suggesting they were desperate for a kill, underestimated (or simply didn’t care about) the wind direction which blew the scent of the fox over the A14 and are thus even more implicit in the death of one of their own hounds, if that’s possible!

I’ve added some annotations and graphics to the Google image to explain. Let’s go over the facts.

1 – The Fitzwilliam Hunt own George’s Thorn covert.

2 – Coverts are traditionally kept for hunting purposes.

3 – There is a badger sett in George’s Thorn covert which has been dug out very recently.

4 – A fox was observed and filmed running from the direction of the covert with the hounds in pursuit on the day in question.

5 – The riding field were in an ideal position to view all the action and obviously placed there by the field master.

6 – The wind was blowing from the North.

7 – The fox escaped in the drainage ditch next to the A14.

8 – John Mease was a significant distance away.

9 – A hound was killed on the A14, possibly following the scent of the fox as it blew over the dual carriageway.

10 – The Huntsman (Simon Hunter) was nowhere to be seen and left it to Whipper In Shaun Parish to deal with the mess.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Finally I hope all my readers have a great holiday break. Why not walk off some of that Christmas dinner and visit your local hunt, there are several demo’s taking place so pop along and show these wildlife abusers what the Great British public really think about their sordid little minority pastime. There’s a list of demos on the HSA Facebook page.