A stoat, if accidentally deprived of its power of scent, would soon
come to starvation. All animals depend on scent not only for their food
but for their protection, their power of recognition, and for nearly
all the interests of their lives. The scent given off varies with
occasion. In a state of rest it is modified. Thus a game-bird who has
been on its nest for some time is in less danger of discovery than one
that has just come to the nest, leaving a fresh trail. So the scent
given off by foxes varies with their own condition--as, of course, with
the weather. The greatest scent is left behind by the fox when he is
warm with running; the least is given off at the beginning of a run, or
at the end, when he is exhausted. The hunted fox well knows that his
life may depend on the strength or weakness of his scent--this is made
clear when he runs purposely through a herd of cattle or a flock of
sheep.
Deluges of rain, burning sun, or extreme cold obliterate fox-scent,
but slight heat combined with moisture, as when the sun shines after a
warm shower, is in favour of a strong and enduring trail. But there is
little certainty in the matter; as Mr. Jorrocks truly said, "Nothing
so queer as scent 'cept a woman." On a promising day hounds may be at
fault when within a score of yards of a fox; but on a day so apparently
hopeless that few sportsmen trouble to attend a meet, as when a thin
crust of hard-frozen snow covers the ground, the scent may be red-hot.
One day may yield a perfect scent; on the next, apparently with the
same weather conditions, the scent is elusive, and the hounds no sooner
give tongue than they fall silent. Much depends on the nature of the
country, or of the substance on which the volatile scent particles
fall. Crossing the meadows, the hounds speak the line with certain
voice; but when they come to dry, crumbling fallow-fields, the chorus
dies away into a few doubtful whimpers. The time of the day has
its effect on scent; in midsummer the woods may have no perfume in
particular at midday, but are filled with sweet smells in the evening.
Every one knows how a warm autumnal shower brings out the savour of
dead leaves and the smell of earth.
To the fox, as to the stoat, the sense of smelling is the most
important of all. With his nose the fox discovers nearly all his food.
If the sitting game-bird has flown to her nest, and herself gives off
the least perceptible scent, the fox easily finds her by that strong
scent given off by chipping eggs. By scent he picks up the young
leverets, after quartering the ground to gather the greatest advantage
of the wind. He scents young rabbits in the stop when a foot beneath
the surface of the earth, and when he starts digging them out he goes
directly to their nest. So a good ratting terrier will point through a
couple of feet of soil to the exact spot where a rat is lying. We have
sometimes thought that an invention to magnify scents would prove of
great benefit to the gamekeeper. But there might be fatal effects if a
keeper, scent-improver on nose, came suddenly on that mushroom of the
fetid odour commonly known as the Stinkhorn.
* * * * *