Boxing Day hunt

[Keith Tindell]

I may be at odds with some here on site, but I don't agree with fox hunting, and of course it is illegal in England. However we are being conned in this, I stayed in a lovely country pub near Shaftsbury for Xmas, and this year my cousin Norma stayed with us as well, she is from Canada, and left England when she was 17 years old, and loved the idea of an old English Xmas, so the Boxing Day hunt goes from the village there, and wanted to see it, so we went to the meeting farm, and saw the gather, with the horses , hounds red coats, and take the stirrup cup etc. The leader of the hunt gave a speech before they set off, and stated that the drag had laid a scent the day before, this was for the non believers benefit, because with rain that night the scent would have been dead by the next day. However later that day, from the pub we saw the hounds pick up a fresh fox scent, and set of in pursuit, hounds , dogs, bellow of the horn etc, which made my cousins day with the photos of it. So the hunters still pursue the fox and con us into believing different. If these animals are a nuisance, which they can be, then shoot them is the correct way as I see it. I have been racking my brains trying to think of the saying, the un...... ? In pursuit of the unedable ?, kt

[Louis the fly]

The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable. Anyone found guilty of cruelty to animals should be behind bars.

[dave moore]

At the time of the proposal to ban fox hunting the followers

[dave moore]

Apologies for the first attempt ,to much Irish,The hunts made certain statements in support of the ban,one was that foxes would overrun the countryside,what a load of rubbish.i myself am an amateur naturalist and also write nature articles in my local newspaper.i spend most days studying local wildlife and can report that the fox population has not change at all.Hunts people are the most arrogant buggers you could ever meet,and many of them are bloody townies strutting about on their horses and know nothing about the countryside.Just the other day while out I heard the Whipperins bugle calling why because at least half a dozen hounds we well away from the pack a good half mile ,I happened to be walking down a lane when suddenly the six shot across the road in front of a car causing it to brake sharply.No matter what they tell they are a bunch of bloody arrogant cowboys and I should know after fifty years living in a massive hunting area .if the truth was known they break the law every the are out but I cannot see it being banned ever ,after seeing a photo in one of the national newspapers not long ago of the Queen being driven to a hunt.

[Richard Quartermaine]

In the 1970's in Kinclaven, Perthshire my Auld Smiddy was on a bit above five acres. I had a few dozen hens and a busy rooster so I didn't want foxes around.

One day there was this bunch walking across my field looking suspicious and on approach I was told in no uncertain terms that they were having a fox hunt and it was to cross over my property. My next door neighbour had loaned me a spare twelve gauge shot gun for foxes but no way was anybody going to gallop across my freehold land on a fox hunt.

I do not take kindly to pompous pr***s and and made it quite clear that any incursion on to my property would be strongly resisted in a kerfuffle that would scare the horses more than the fox. I was, and still am not, sure of the law but later on, well on the other side of the burn boundary of my property, the mob could be seen in "tally ho" mode.

Richard

[Evan Lewis]

The current Premier of N.S.W.Some Eight -nine months ago.Announced a Ban on Dog Racing.
Following a A.B.C. documentary, showing the cruelty involved . As in the main ,the Animals to those concerned,are only another commodity.
The mighty $ reigns.
Many Local Govt members in constituencies ,throughout the State. Were being "leaned on"And their possibility of ever being re-elected was made known. They in turn, Leaned on the Current Boss. to the extent , that His ,Welcomed Ruling . has been withdrawn.
Dead as A Doornail! Like the unhappy fate of many of the greyhounds .each Week.

[Captain Kong]

I have Four Foxes that come to my garden every night, same time 11pm. Sometimes just 1 or 2 of them.
We feed them our meat bones and any food scraps left over,
along side is a lake, with ducks, water hens etc, so every time we feed the Foxes they don't eat a Duck.
They are almost tame and come right up to us at "feeding time".
They have beautiful faces and a nice reddish colour and big bushy tails.
Sometimes cats come to try and eat the meat scraps so the Fox will just sit next to the cat and wait his turn, when the cat goes then he will eat, So they are very polite.
So they can be very entertaining.
Brian

[j.sabourn]

My son does as well Brian who lives in Alwoodley a suburb of Leeds. Sometimes his cats chase them off. I would of thought it would of been the other way round, so either he has very brave cats , or the foxes are not inclined to fight on someone elses terrority. Cheers JS

[Keith Tindell]

I also have foxes in the garden, almost tame, and again we feed them scraps. As I said in post one, we are being conned. I had never actually been to a hunt until this occasion, and am ashamed of myself that I put a quid in the collection box to get into the farmyard to see the meet, only consolation that my cousin enjoyed the spectacle. But never again, kt

[Richard Quartermaine]

There is always a darker side. Introduced foxes do harm and often eradicate the natural fauna as has occurred in mainland Australia. The island state of Tasmania is so far free of foxes, although there are often screeches to the contrary. Like the cane toad from Hawaii. That and the mongoose in Fiji that was brought in from India that turned their attention to all the flightless birds and other vulnerable creatures. There is no stopping the carnage as the borders disintegrate. I'm glad that I lived in the days that were. As for foxes and chooks; lock them up in a roost at night (The chooks I mean) and in the day when they are in a pen, extend the wire netting 6" under the earth and back 15" from the fence line so the when the fox digs to go under the netting it arrives at the netting and is foiled.
Foxes have migrated to populations over the last decades as myxomatosis has decimated the 'Watership Down'population. They are rather sly; old foxes.
Richard