Beagling: Green Coats, No Foxes Or Horses

By Claire Stuart

Photos by Claire Stuart & Stephen Willingham

A gaggle of squirming beagle puppies with wiggling tails and pleading eyes is at the fence to greet Russell Wagner, Master of Hounds of Clarke County’s Nantucket-Treweryn Beagles (NT Beagles).

While Virginia Hunt Country is well known for the colorful pageantry of fox hunts and horse races, less attention falls on beagling, a spectacle with green coats instead of red. Un- like mounted fox hunting, beagling allows spectators to follow the hunt on foot over the fields and get an opportunity to see some of Clarke’s most beautiful working farms close up. Hunts are held on Sundays from November until April.

Hunting with beagles can be traced back to Roman times when people hunted for food with small dogs. A hunting beagle is correctly called a “hound,” not a “dog.” Male hounds are properly called ”dogs” and females are called “bitches.” Mounted hunting with a pack of foxhounds emerged as a sport with the upper classes in England in the 1700s, while ordinary people took up small game hunting with beagles. Beagling came to the U.S. with European farmers for ridding their farms of rabbits, and it evolved into today’s sport.

NT Beagles originated as two private packs in the 1920s: David Sharp’s Treweryn Beagles in Pennsylvania and Rebecca Tripi’s Nantucket (Massachusetts) Beagles. The masters married, eventually merged packs, and moved to Middleburg. The pack moved to Clarke in 1982, becoming a subscription pack.

The hunt’s object is not to kill rabbits, but to enjoy the chase. Beagles hunt by scent, and the pack bursts into song when a rabbit is scented or flushed out. The chase continues until the rabbit ducks into a hole or other safe shelter (“goes to ground”) or the hounds lose the scent, and the huntsman gathers the pack to find another rabbit. Various numbers of hounds participate, usually 15 to 21, depending on where the hunt is held.

There is a definite hierarchy in a pack of hounds, and

Wagner reports that a hound named Voodoo is boss. “He has probably been Number One for six or seven years. When Voodoo speaks, other hounds answer!”

Wagner explains that only about one in 100 rabbits is caught — due to a serious mis- take on the rabbit’s part! The odds would seem to be in favor of the hounds simply due to numbers, but rabbits have some distinct advantages. Living under constant threat from hawks, foxes, coyotes and stray pets, rabbits know reliable escape routes, and they run in wide circles around their home territory. They are also able to make a complete 90-degree turn in seconds, before the scattered pack of hounds can regroup and follow.

Some of the pack are outfitted with tracking collars in case they wander off and get lost. Wagner has a monitor that shows the hound’s location as a dot on a map, and he can track several hounds at a time.

NT Beagles is operated by three joint masters: Russell Wagner; his wife, Marianne Casey; and Peter Cook, owner of the property where the kennel is located. The masters handle all operations of the hunt including finances, activity schedules, mailings, and hound care. The only paid employee is the kennelman who helps feed the hounds. The hunt is not taken lightly by the masters. Casey explains that at the conclusion of every hunt, the masters review everything. “We look at the performance of every hound, every rabbit.”

Wagner is Huntsman, in charge of breeding and training the hounds to hunt with the public. He leads the hunts. Casey is Field Master, “herding” the walking followers (the field), keeping them together at a safe distance from the hounds but close enough to see the action.

Bill Getchell and Don Richards are volunteer Whippersin. Safety of the hounds during a hunt is their responsibility: keeping the hounds away from roads and other hazards, keeping them focused, and preventing them from going after deer, foxes, stray pets and any other creatures they might encounter.

There are 150 to 200 hunts a year, held on farms across Clarke County and some large farms in Warren County. Outside of the hunts that spectators attend, the masters take the hounds out frequently to keep them in practice.

Every pack has an approved territory in which they hunt. About 26 farms, ranging from 50 to 2,000 acres, participate, and NT Beagles shares Clarke with the Blue Ridge Hunt. Terrain varies from farm to farm — some is easy walking and some is not so! The Huntsman usually walks three to five miles with the hounds, the Whippers-in about three miles, and the following walkers about two miles — but it could be four or five miles, depending on location.

Currently, the pack numbers 33 adult hounds and five puppies. Male and female hounds hunt together as long as females are not

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The kennel contains nine hound runs, and each can hold three to five hounds. There is a dispensary for necessary medicines and vaccines, and Wagner gives all shots except rabies, which requires a vet. There is also a convalescing room for any hounds that suffer minor injuries, and Wagner cares for those that don’t require attention of a vet.

Hounds are bred at the kennel, sometimes with hounds drafted from other packs. Wagner explains that they breed to keep certain qualities, similar but not exactly like their parents. “Most important,” says Wagner, “Do they hunt? I keep a stud book. Voodoo’s sire line goes back to 1860!”

At five weeks, the first thing pups learn are their names. Pups from the same litter are all given names starting with the same letter, such as Voodoo, Vodka and Vicki. Wagner knows every pup by name. He can also recognize each pup by its markings, and notes that they all have their own distinctive personalities. Asked whether the pups bond with humans or with the pack, he replied, ”Every hound makes a bond with me as a pet. They all come to me first.”

Pups get their first vaccines at eight weeks. At about 14 weeks, they learn to bark at and chase one of the kennel’s domestic rabbits. They are not allowed to catch the rabbit. Wagner commented that the rabbits get a warm, dry hutch and food for putting up with being chased by pups a few times!

“I wish they would never catch a rabbit!” remarked Getchell.

In May, June and July, Wagner takes pups for daily walks of one to three miles a day as a pack. “We might chase a rabbit, “ he explained, “and go to a stream for a drink. The walk often ends up as a hunt if they chase a fox, a deer, a cat.”

Pups are not taught the commands that pet dogs are taught, like sit, stay and heel.

They learn words like get back, down, pack up (come in) and, of course, NO! They are moved into the pack one at a time, and at eight months they can go into the hunt. By one and a half years they learn not to chase deer, foxes, other animals. The Whipper-In scares them when they chase deer.

They never stop learning. They learn to come when called and to follow the Huntsman. They are trained to the hunting horn. There are notes that mean ‘come to me,’ ‘hunt with me’, and ‘rabbit coming’. Wagner says that the horns are mostly just part of the pageantry because he can direct the hounds with hand signals — although that wouldn’t be as interesting to the spectators.

Most spectators are subscribers. Many have been beagling for years or decades, and know their favorite hounds on sight. Rebecca Bronson says she has been beagling since the 1990s. “I’ve learned more about nature from beagling than from my biology classes,” she maintained. “It’s a great way to get out in nature.”

Michael Trainor recalls growing up around dogs and chasing rabbits, because his grandfather raised hunting beagles. “Beagling is like a glorious return to my childhood.”

“I retired from fox hunting because I got tired of falling off horses,” laughed Diane Ingoe. She loves the fun, exercise, and camaraderie that beagling offers. She proudly shows off a handcrafted walking stick with carved hounds and rabbits that was made for her by an artist friend.

Non-subscribers need an invitation from a subscriber or permission from a Master to attend a hunt, and advance notice is required.

Spectators should wear proper clothing and footwear to stay dry and warm: boots, jeans, jackets, hats. Walking sticks are very useful. Wagner stressed that the primary interest is the hunt, not socializing, although of course there will be a certain amount.

As a subscription pack, NT Beagles is completely sup- ported by private subscribers and occasional fundraisers. You can donate to support a hound (food and meds) for a week, month, or a year; if your hound wins an award, you are also awarded a small prize. Two, three, and four years old is the prime age for a hound to hunt. The average working hound is about four years old. At six, seven and eight years old, hounds are slowing down, and by nine or ten they are retired and found homes as pets. Wagner reported that he will be keeping Voodoo when that exceptional hound retires.

Retired beagles make excellent pets. Since they spent their lives in the kennel, they are not housebroken, but it only takes about a week to housebreak. They also have to get accustomed to regular baths because kennel hounds are only bathed before shows. Adopters get all of their new pet’s medical records.

For further information, visit https://www.ntbeagles. org/home. Phone: (540) 4544045 or (540)-955-2889. Leave a message and your call will be returned when the hounds are in from the field.