Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds (scent hounds), and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback. Fox hunting originated in its current form in the United Kingdom in the 16th century, but is practised all over the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the United States. The sport is controversial, particularly in the UK, where bans were introduced for Scotland in 2002, then for England and Wales in November 2004. Proponents see it as an important part of rural culture, useful for conservation and pest control, while opponents argue that it is cruel and unnecessary. The use of scent hounds to track prey dates back to Assyrian, Babylonian, and ancient Egyptian times, and is known as venery. Many Greek- and Roman-influenced countries have long traditions of hunting with hounds. Hunting with Agassaei hounds was popular in Celtic Britain, even before the Romans arrived, with their Castorian and Fulpine hound breeds which they used to hunt. Norman hunting traditions were brought to Britain when William the Conqueror arrived, along with the Gascon and Talbot hounds. Foxes were referred to as beasts of the chase by medieval times, along with the red deer (hart & hind), martens, and roes, but the earliest known attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk, England, in 1534, where farmers began chasing down foxes with their dogs for pest control . The first use of packs specifically trained to hunt foxes was in the late 1600s, with the oldest fox hunt likely to be the Bilsdale in Yorkshire. By the end of the seventeenth century, deer hunting was in decline. The Inclosure Acts brought fences to separate open land into fields, deer forests were being cut down, and arable land was increasing. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, people began to move out of the country and into towns and cities to find work. Roads, rail, and canals split hunting countries, but also made hunting accessible to more people. Fox hunting developed further in the eighteenth century when Hugo Meynell developed breeds of hound and horse to address the new geography of rural England. According to the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, Englishman Robert Brooke was the first man to import hunting hounds to America, bringing his pack to Maryland in 1650 when he imported his horses and a pack of foxhounds. Also around this time, numbers of European red foxes were introduced into the Eastern seaboard of North America for hunting. The first organised hunt for the benefit of a group (rather than a single patron) was started by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax in 1747. In the United States, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both kept packs of fox hounds before and after the American Revolutionary War. In America, fox hunting is also called 'fox chasing,' as the purpose is not to actually kill the animal but to enjoy the thrill of the chase. A hunt may go without a kill for several years, despite chasing two or more foxes in a single day's hunting. As a rule, foxes are not pursued once they have 'gone to ground.' American fox hunters undertake stewardship of the land, and endeavour to maintain fox populations and habitats as much as possible. The red fox is the main prey of European and American fox hunts. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the normal prey animal of a fox hunt in the U.S. and Europe. A small omnivorous predator, the fox lives in underground burrows called earths, and is predominantly active around twilight (making it a crepuscular animal). Adult foxes tend to range around an area of between 2–6 square miles in good terrain, although in poor terrain, their range can be as much as 7.7 sq mi. The red fox can run at up to 30 mph. The fox is also variously known as a Tod (old English word for fox), Reynard (the name of an anthropomorphic character in European literature from the twelfth century), or Charlie (named for the Whig politician Charles James Fox). Other species than the red fox may be the quarry in a Hunt. The choice of quarry depends on the region and numbers available. The coyote (Canis latrans) is a significant quarry for many Hunts in North America, particularly in the west and southwest, where there are large open spaces. The coyote is an indigenous predator that did not range east of the Mississippi River until the latter half of the 20th century. The coyote is faster than a fox, running at 40 mph and also wider ranging, with a territory of up to 109 sq mi, so a much larger hunt territory is required to chase it. Coyotes can be challenging opponents for the dogs in physical confrontations, despite the size advantage of a large dog. Coyotes have larger canine teeth and are generally more practised in hostile encounters. The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), a distant relative of the European red fox, is also hunted in North America. It is an adept climber of trees, making it harder to hunt with hounds. The smell of the grey fox is not as strong as that of the red, therefore more time is needed for the hounds to take the scent. Unlike the red fox which, during the chase, will run far ahead from the pack, the grey fox will speed toward heavy brush, thus making it more difficult to pursue. Also unlike the red fox, which occurs more prominently in the northern United States, the more southern grey fox is rarely hunted on horseback, due to its densely covered habitat preferences. Fox hunting is usually undertaken with a pack of scent hounds, and, in most cases, these are specially bred foxhounds. These dogs are trained to pursue the fox based on its scent. The horses, called "field hunters" or hunters, ridden by followers of the hunt, are a prominent feature of many hunts, although others are conducted on foot (and those hunts with a field of horseback-mounted riders may also have foot followers). Horses on hunts can range from specially bred and trained field hunters to casual hunt attendees riding a wide variety of horse and pony types. Draft and Thoroughbred crosses are commonly used as hunters, although purebred Thoroughbreds and horses of many different breeds are also used. Some hunts with unique territories favor certain traits in field hunters, for example, when hunting coyote in the western U.S., a faster horse with more stamina is required to keep up, as coyotes are faster than foxes and inhabit larger territories. Hunters must be well-mannered, have the athletic ability to clear large obstacles such as wide ditches, tall fences, and rock walls, and have the stamina to keep up with the hounds. Dependent on terrain, and to accommodate different levels of ability, hunts generally have alternative routes that do not involve jumping. The hunt may be divided into two groups, with one group, the First Field, that takes a more direct but demanding route that involves jumps over obstacles while another group, the Second Field (also called Hilltoppers or Gaters), takes longer but less challenging routes that utilize gates or other types of access on the flat. Hunting itself begins when hounds are "cast" (put into) rough or brushy areas called coverts, where foxes often lay up during daylight hours or when they hear dogs moving toward them. If the pack manages to pick up the scent of a fox, they will track it for as long as they are able. Scenting can be affected by temperature, humidity, and other factors. The hounds pursue the trail of the fox and the riders follow, by the most direct route possible. Since this may involve very athletic skill on the part of horse and rider alike, fox hunting is the origin of traditional equestrian sports including steeplechase and point to point racing. In the autumn of each year hunts take the young hounds out cub hunting or autumn hunting in order to teach the young fox hounds to restrict their hunting to foxes. A young hound is considered to be 'entered' into the pack once he or she has successfully joined in a hunt in this fashion. In the U.S.,  cubs are chased and allowed to escape to teach them better skills of evasion so that they may be tracked (preferably without being killed) again another day.  Many foxes learn to evade the hounds by running up or down streams, running along the tops of fences, and other tactics to throw the hounds off the scent. Once the season proper starts the idea is to drive the fox from the covert and chase it for long distances over open countryside. The northern hemisphere season continues through to April, though a few hunts continue into early May. Fox cubs are born between January and May, dependent on their geographical range, which means that pregnant and nursing vixens may be hunted. As a social ritual, participants in a fox hunt fill specific roles, the most prominent of which is the master, often more than one and then called masters or joint masters. These individuals typically take much of the financial responsibility for the overall management of the sporting activities of the hunt and the care and breeding of the hunt's fox hounds, as well as control and direction of its paid staff. •        Master of fox hounds (M.F.H.) or Joint Master of Fox Hounds operates the sporting activities of the hunt, maintains the kennels, works with (and sometimes is) the huntsman, and spends the money raised by the hunt club. (Often the master or joint masters are the largest of financial contributors to the hunt.) The master will have the final say over all matters in the field. •        Honorary secretaries are volunteers (usually one in America, two in the UK) who collect the cap (money) from guest riders. •        A kennelman looks after hounds in kennels, assuring that all tasks are completed when pack and staff return from hunting. •        The huntsman, often the same person as the kennelman, is responsible for directing the hounds in the course of the hunt. The Huntsmen usually carries a horn to communicate to the hounds, followers and whippers in. •        Whippers-in (or "Whips") are assistants to the huntsman. Their main job is to keep the pack all together, especially to prevent the hounds from straying or 'riotting', which term refers to the hunting of animals other than the hunted fox. To help them to control the pack, they carry hunting whips (and in America they sometimes also carry .22 revolvers loaded with rat-shot or blanks.) The role of whipper-in in hunts has inspired parliamentary systems (including the Westminster System and the U.S. Congress) to use whip for a member who enforces party discipline and ensure the attendance of other members at important votes. In addition to members of the hunt staff, a committee may run the Hunt Supporters Club to organise fundraising and social events and in America many hunts are incorporated and have parallel lines of leadership. Mounted hunt followers typically wear traditional hunting attire. A prominent feature of hunts operating during the formal hunt season (between late October and the end of March) is hunt members wearing 'colours'. This attire consists of the traditional scarlet coats worn by huntsmen, masters, former masters, whippers-in (regardless of sex), other hunt staff members and male members who have been invited to wear colours as a mark of honour. The coats are also known as Pinks. Ladies generally wear coloured collars on their black or navy coats. The colour of breeches (riding pants) vary from hunt to hunt and are generally of one colour, though two or three colours throughout the year may be permitted. Boots are generally English dress boots (no laces). For the men they are black with brown leather tops (called tan tops), and for the ladies, black with a patent black leather top of similar proportion to the men. Additionally, the number of buttons is significant. The Master of the hunt wears a scarlet coat with four brass buttons while the huntsman and other professional staff wear five. Amateur whippers-in also wear four buttons. Another differentiation in dress between the amateur and professional staff is found in the ribbons at the back of the hunt cap. The professional staff wear their hat ribbons down, while amateur staff and members of the field wear their ribbons up. Those members not entitled to wear colours, dress in a black hunt coat and unadorned black buttons for both men and ladies, generally with pale breeches. Boots are all English dress boots and have no other distinctive look. Some hunts also further restrict the wear of formal attire to weekends and holidays and use ratcatcher all other times.