HOT ON THE TRAIL.
THE WORRY.
Photos by T. C. Bristow Noble.]
The Advent of the Otter-hunting Season.
Never, perhaps, was otter-hunting more popular than it is to-day, though it is one of the oldest sports in existence. Even as far back as the reign of King John otters were hunted with hounds throughout the summer months. But until comparatively late years the sport seems to have always been that of the few rather than, as now, that of the many. In a great measure it owes its increasing popularity to the more generous spirit that happily now prevails among sportsmen.
The member of the angling society and the owner of the private fishery are no longer at war with the interesting little quarry, that is, on those rivers which are visited by otterhounds, and on many that are not. Indeed, it is more than probable that in a few years’ time it will be considered as discreditable an action for a private person to shoot or otherwise destroy an otter, as it is to secretly kill a fox in the Midlands. During the season that is slowly commencing there will be twenty-four packs of otterhounds hunting in the United Kingdom, as was the case last year. The first meet took place on April 6th, when the Essex Otterhounds, which Mr. L. Rose still continues to hunt, met at Witham Station.
This was an early start indeed. The water must have been very cold, and the hounds in consequence could have shown no great keenness. The truth is, April is too early a month in which to make a commencement. It is wiser by far to wait till about the middle of May before bringing the hounds from their kennels. By this time the countryside is putting on her most resplendent mantle, the water is growing warm at last, and followers and hounds alike can thoroughly enjoy the sport.
It is not a sport that only the rich can indulge in. Almost any and everybody can afford to follow it, whilst rarely has the agriculturist occasion to complain of damage being done to either his crops or fences by the followers. It is gratifying to notice that masters are determined to put a stop to the increasing practice of riding to otterhounds. Apart from it being quite unnecessary to be mounted, horse people are often a danger and always a nuisance among the legitimate following.
There is, moreover, a growing inclination to utilise the rough-coated hound to a greater extent than hitherto. But one of the most pleasant features of modern otter-hunting is the large number of ladies that follow and subscribe to the various packs, coupled with which must be the fact that there are now two lady “masters”—Mrs. Walter Cheesman, the Master of Crowhurst Otterhounds, and Lady Mary Hamilton, who owns the Hamilton pack, which, as we write, was given to her a few days ago by Mr. R. Carnaby Forster.