16. Fox Tossing
This next game is as terrible as it sounds. For years, foxes were considered to be vermin, sort of like a rat or mouse. In the 17th and 18th Centuries, fox tossing became a popular and dangerous blood sport at extravagant parties. The game would be set up in a large courtyard, with dozens of people playing at once. Two people made up one team. They would grab hold of two ends of a catapult, which was usually a long piece of fabric. A live fox was placed on the fabric, and then the couple tossed the fox through the air. The object of the game was to toss the fox as high as you possibly could.
Records show that the highest a fox was ever tossed was 24 feet. There were other versions of the game where other animals like cats, wolves, and boars were tossed instead of foxes. But foxes were the most common, since they were so readily available in European forests. Images illustrated at that time show us that this was a scene of utter chaos, not to mention heartless animal cruelty. Thankfully, this is one of those games that doesn’t seem to have carried over into modern times.
