https://www.topendsports.com/sport/extinct/fo...
Fox Tossing was one of the most popular and competitive blood sports during the 17th and 18th centuries in certain parts of Europe, mostly practiced by members of the upper classes. The sport was held on a closed patch of land where people threw live foxes and other animals up high using slings, with a person on each end to fling the fox upwards. The team with the highest throw would win.
What is Fox Tossing?
Fox Tossing was a competitive blood sport, popular in parts of Europe, especially Germany, in the 17th and 18th Centuries. “Fuchsprellen” in German, translates to “fox bouncing”, a very accurate description of this “sport”.
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2015/11/21/fox...
BL: What is fox tossing, exactly?
EBH: Fox tossing was the sport that I found and then spawned the idea of the book. And, it was hidden away in a German hunting manual from 1720.
https://stock.adobe.com/lu_de/images/xvii-cen...
XVII century, fox tossing in Dresden castle courtyard, vintage engraving
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_tossing
Fox tossing (German: Fuchsprellen) was a popular competitive blood sport in parts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, which involved throwing live foxes and other animals high into the air.
https://www.welt.de/kultur/article160190528/A...
Beim Fuchsprellen, einem Zeitvertreib der Adligen des 18. Jahrhunderts, trennte man mit Leinwänden eine Arena ab, in die daraufhin zuvor in freier Wildbahn lebendig gefangene Füchse getrieben wurden.
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/bueche...
Der Autor berichtet, dass er in dem Buch „Der vollkommene teutsche Jäger“ auf das Fuchsprellen stieß, eine Anfang des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts am sächsischen Hof gängige Vergnügung.
https://jung-jaeger.eu/alte-jagdarten/
Alte Jagdarten – vom Fuchsprellen, Hasenbugsieren und Otterstechen
http://deutsches-jagd-lexikon.de/index.php?ti...
Das Fuchsprellen war keine Jagdart im eigentlichen Sinne, sondern im 16.-18. Jahrhundert eine beliebtes Rahmenprogramm bei höfischen Jagdveranstaltungen.