Page 56 - The Hunt - Summer 2021

Fox dens are common throughout our region, especially on preserved land.
The late Nancy Penn Smith Hannum, and made sure other people took care of it,” her as adults? Why would they ever fight for
the lady master of Cheshire, knew Hunt Country like no one else. “She’d always make sure to care for the foxhole in ground— what we call earth—especially in an area where she knew there was the likelihood of cubs being born,” says her oldest son, John “Jock” Hannum. “She’d make sure the earth was big enough and not in the middle of a field where a horse could step in it. She was always very careful in the administration of the area, making sure these foxes would, in effect, be protected.”
Deer can excite foxes, so Hannum was careful about granting hunting licenses on her Brooklawn property. “She took care of the land,
son says. “If there were deer hunters, they better not be shooting at foxes. She ran Hunt Country like a person would run a good firm.”
Looking after the fox is also the domain
of Natural Lands, a conservation nonprofit based in Media, Pa., that allows foxhunting on two of its preserves, ChesLen in Coatesville and Bryn Coed in Chester Springs. “If you separate people from nature and isolate
the land, how can we inspire the next generation?” poses Kirsten Werner, Natural Lands’ senior director of communications. “If we don’t get people on our preserves to see fox kits playing in a field, how can they become emotionally inspired to support our mission
legislation to protect that land?” Natural Lands owns, conserves and
maintains some 50,000 acres. Its stewardship philosophy is much like that of the Brandywine Conservancy, which has always worked closely with Cheshire. “We constantly evaluate what inspires people to subscribe
to our organizational message,” Werner says. “The fox is definitely not an animal that people are maligning or associating with negatively. We have 36,000 followers on Facebook, and there’s never been a comment that they’re awful. I have chickens on my Chadds Ford farm, but it’s my job to protect my chickens. I’ve intruded on their land.”
54 THE HUNT MAGAZINE summer 2020