Sir, - For hunters, 'tis the season to be bloody. Last weekend I came across a mangled fox. A pack of 20 dogs had been set upon it by the local hunt. It was covered in bite marks and had a noose of barbed wire around its neck.
This wasn't a snare. It was part of an implement used by "terrier men" to drag foxes from their dens. Once the dogs have located the animal, a pole wrapped in prickly wire is often lowered into the earth to make contact with their quarry. The pole has a loop which can fasten around the fox's neck or one of its legs.
You won't find this aspect of hunting depicted on Christmas cards! - Yours, etc.,
From John Fitzgerald
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Callan, Co Kilkenny.