Cheverny and Let loose the hounds !

This great sight is about 15 km from Chambord, set in the same heavily forested landscape/  The Viscount who inherited it through many generations from the original Henri Huralt ancestor who built it in 1634.  The viscount and his family live on the third floor and the lower two floors are massively furnished and decorated with period pieces.

The grounds include about a dozen giant sequoias and several Cedars of Lebanon (massive trees). plus a large stable of horses, a kitchen garden, and two kennels of hunting dogs numbering 50 in each one. They are used for hunting today and it is done in the traditional manner; horses, hounds and kill the boar or deer only with a spear handled by one of the riders.

I came out of the mansion about 4:15 p.m. and hear the yelping of a large number of dogs.  I walked through the park to see what the noise could be.  The 50 hounds there have a large outdoor and also indoor kennel.  They are fed once at day at 5 p.m.  Some time previous to that, the keeper lets the dogs up on to the roof of their kennel.  They then watch him down on the ground making a line on the tiles of 50 raw chickens cut in half, which he then also covers in kibble - photo 5.

The dogs jump and howl in anticipation. Some find it too strenuous and just lay down and close their eyes.  At exactly 5, he opens a gate to allow them into the yard.  He is carrying a whip to keep them under control, and they of course, know the routine.  Before he will allow them to eat, he orders them to line in in rows in front of the small building.  Like small school children, they pack themselves in against the wall - now they are only 10' from the food and really ready. He then tells them to sit and shut up - which they do.

At some point he gives a signal and the chaos that ensues is just incredible.  In the photo below the one with eyes closed, you can see a dog with its face distended from the force of his leap and run, and another rising through the air.  In about four minutes it is all over and the chickens are devoured.  The dogs are left to lick up the kibble on the tiles and it is strangely quiet now.  It is one of the wildest scenes I have ever seen, and more thrilling because it was so unexpected.

We would call the dogs Beagles, but they are English foxhounds mixed with some French breed, and are quite tall and large dogs.  If you look closely, each dog has a "V" shaved on its right side to indicate they belong to the Vicomte.