Ledbury Hunt Brainge, Putley 7th Jan 2019
While huntsman Mark Meladay and hounds hunted through the large area of woodland that is Mains Wood and Commanders Wood, terrier men were caught digging out a badger sett on land belonging to Hill Farm, much higher up the valley. Sett entrances had been blocked, a net secured over one remaining unblocked entrance and a large hole had been dug into the sett. Realising they had been seen, the men retrieved the terrier that had been entered into the sett as quickly as possible and left the area. The area around the sett smelled strongly of fox. When informed that they were illegally interfering with a badger sett the men claimed they were rabbiting.
Usually the hunt draw the covert next to this sett after leaving Commanders Wood. Was their intention to flush a fox into the net and then release it in the covert just before the hounds arrived, providing some "sport" for the riders? Less than a week after the Kimblewick terriermen were caught on camera flushing a captive fox to hounds from an artificial earth, this looks very much like the Ledbury terriermen attempting to provide a fox for the hounds to hunt.