As always, the East Kent Fox Hunt met at the square in the village of Elham. The only thing different this year was the way in which the barriers were set out by the police. They were also relatively small in number. The hunt attracted the usual crowd of between 150 - 200 spectators. Unfortunately for us the number of protestors was considerably down on previous years. This is probably due to people putting too much faith in the government's new anti-hunt bill that is going through parliament.

The Hunt Saboteur's Association is not too bothered with waving banners at bloodsports fanatics - they are not going to listen to us anyway. So, as the hunt moved off, we followed on to stop them killing.

As usual, the hunt headed east up the hill towards Great Shuttlesfield Farm, which is at the end of a dead-end road. To avoid getting blocked in by the hunt traffic, we shadowed the hunt on another lane, making sure we kept downwind of them, giving us a better chance of seeing any foxes that they may put up.

The hunt was soon out of sight so we headed around the farm by road, then went in on foot to where we could hear them. by this time they were onto a fox and the hounds were in full cry. Some of the group spotted a fox, which was running with the wind back towards Great Shuttlesfield Farm. Our group split into two groups, some spraying over the scent left by the fox with lemon scent, and the other ran to the fence where the fox had crossed and waited for the hounds. When the hounds approached the fence we cracked our whips and commanded them to stop and they did. The fence, which was made up of two stock fences a metre apart with a recently-planted hedge inbetween them, was quite an obstacle for them to cross without us telling them not to from the other side.

Despite the huntsman's best efforts, the hounds would not cross the fence and wasted a good five or ten minutes going around us. By then the scent of the fox had been blown away due to the strong wind we had that day.

We followed on after the hunt, which then hunted near the village of Paddlesworth. We only saw them put up one other fox near the end of the day, which was only chased for a few minutes before they lost the scent. One of our longest-serving hunt sabs noticed that the first fox the hunt had put up was a dark colour, as if it was wet. The ground was wet that day but, due to the relatively short chase, it was unlikely to have got wet from splashes from puddles and we were some distance from any rivers or ditches. A bagged fox would also appear wet if it had been dug out the day before and kept in a box, soaked in its own urine, and then released the next day to provide sport for a special occasion. Whatever the reason, it leaves us quite suspicious, as on the other Boxing Day meets foxes have been seen running away from a group of hunt followers and terrier men.

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