[1]
Track the hare when it snows so hard that the ground is covered; but if there are black spaces, she will be hard to find. When it is cloudy and the wind is in the north, the tracks lie plain on the surface for a long time, because they melt slowly; but only for a short time if the wind is south and the sun shines, since they soon melt away.
Track the hare when it snows so hard that the ground is covered; but if there are black spaces, she will be hard to find. When it is cloudy and the wind is in the north, the tracks lie plain on the surface for a long time, because they melt slowly; but only for a short time if the wind is south and the sun shines, since they soon melt away.
But when it snows without stopping, don’t attempt it, since the tracks are covered; nor when there is a high wind, since they are buried in the snowdrifts it causes.
[2] On no account have the hounds out with you for this kind of sport, for the snow freezes their noses and feet, and destroys the scent of the hare owing to the hard frost. But take the hayes, and go with a companion to the mountains, passing over the cultivated land, and as soon as the tracks are found, follow them.
[3] If they are complicated, go back from the same ones to the same place and work round in circles and examine them, trying to find where they lead. The hare roams about uncertain where to rest, and, moreover, it is her habit to be tricky in her movements, because she is constantly being pursued in this manner.
[4] As soon as the track is clear, push straight ahead. It will lead either to a thickly wooded spot or to a steep declivity. For the gusts of wind carry the snow over such places; consequently many resting-places are left, and she looks for one of these.
[5] As soon as the tracks lead to such a place, don’t go near, or she will move off, but go round and explore.
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For she is probably there, and there will be no doubt about the matter, since the tracks will nowhere run out from such places.
[6] As soon as it is evident that she is there, leave her—for she will not stir—and look for another before the tracks become obscure, and take care, in case you find others, that you will have enough daylight left to surround them with nets.
[7] When the time has come, stretch the hayes round each of them in the same way as in places where no snow lies, enclosing anything she may be near, and as soon as they are up, approach and start her.
[8] If she wriggles out of the hayes, run after her along the tracks. She will make for other places of the same sort, unless indeed she squeezes herself into the snow itself. Wherever she may be, mark the place and surround it; or, if she doesn’t wait, continue the pursuit. For she will be caught even without the hayes; for she soon tires owing to the depth of the snow, and because large lumps of it cling to the bottom of her hairy feet.
On Hunting. Xenophon. Edgar Carew Marchant (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1925.
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