The power of canine nose - running rabbits after the 18" snow fall

In the last 18 hours we got probably 18-20 inches of snow. It is a heavy and wet snow, and our fence in some areas is now much lower to the ground.

The snow is too deep for dachshunds!

In the morning dogs got fed and let out, but after a while we realized that our beagle Rip was missing. Rip is almost 11 years old but he still has a lot of hunt in him. He is  a large male, 15", but who would expect that in the weather like this he would go on a hunting expedition.
It was not difficult to follow his tracks in such a deep snow. He jumped over the fence, and the tracks led out to the brushy area by our driveway, where he can usually find rabbits easily. And then I heard him. I had my camera with me and started to tape. This is what the first video clip shows. I did not embed the videos on purpose as the second clip is quite loud.

As it turned out Rip was running rabbits in our enclosure. He must have jumped there over the lowered fence. I had to remove the snow around the gate to be able to follow him to the fenced in field. I was quite amazed that he managed to  open on the scent of rabbits moving under the snow. He was voicing a lot and covered quite a bit of ground! Finally he slowed down as he must have run out of energy, and this is when I managed to get to him. The second clip shows that. To see the videos click here.

I know that Rip does not lie and does not open when he does not have the scent. He must have a really powerful nose to be able to smell rabbits in these conditions!