By Hook or Crook
We track down the urban fox - photo Scott Hortop, costume Shirley Hortop
One never knows what will be the issue that drives peaceful villagers to pen or keyboard. Our article detailing the atrocities of the urban fox prompted a spirited defence of Reynard by resident Sarah Farrand. "Good Heavens!" she wrote, "any minute now I'll be reading about their predilection for snatching babies!" She advances the interesting theory that foxes were driven to urbanise when myxamatosis decimated the wild rabbit population and industrialised farming led to Silent Springs. "The problem of urban foxes is almost certainly manmade."
A theme taken up from a different perspective by Cecily Preuss who writes: "In spite of your diatribe on foxes I still regard Man as the greatest predator of all." (Any man of worldly experience must here emphasise that the predatory rôle of Woman is equal). She points to the hedgehog population being cruelly ravaged by slug pellets. Although I believe dangerously toxic metaldehyde has been banned for several years, many of us have noted a worrying decline in local hedgehogs lately. Would readers please write in if they have sighted any?
Meanwhile four or five readers shared a jaundiced view of urban foxes and noted what a nuisance they can be. Wildlife seems to be a gratifyingly lively and controversial subject! To prick an Editor's sense of mischief, a poet who prefers to remain anonymous sent in the following item for which I thank her:
Twitchers get the bird
The ring-necked parakeet is sweet,
Though purists disapprove
Of foreign birds that come in hordes
And eat the treats that they put out
For British birds they love.
'Tut, tut' they splutter, 'Cull the lot.'
How idiotic! The exotic
Parakeet's a fine addition,
With every right of overflight.
May they target the despotic
Twitchers of Thames Ditton
With their droppings. Hit the spot!
O hypocritic purists! You
Love other foreign birds,
For you allow the swift, the swallow,
Goldcrest, hoopoe, goose and cuckoo,
To immigrate. So it's absurd
To exclude parakeets. What rot!
You nimbies - what is their great sin here?
Is it just that they're from.... India,
While Truly British Birds are ... not?
(I expect a heavy postbag on that one!)