For Amy.

I think who ever they are, wont gassing not the foxes.

I'd like to be the one with the gas cylinder Clarice.

Oh that is a bit extreme isn,t it .. Thanks Toto for blogging it .. if the natural home grounds of these creatures had not been systematicly destroyed they would not find the need to venture further afield looking for suitable habitat .

If he feels so strongly about vermin why isn,t he campaining and doing something about the exploding rat population ?

First of all Amy, I don't know what his definition of vermin is. As for his opinion that foxes should be hunted, shot, gassed or poisoned, I wonder why he thinks his opinion should be valued. Anyone who believes that all life on earth is man's to control and use as he wishes, use it as sport or dispense with it on a whim must be extremely self centred, arrogant, selfish and cruel. He, I and the rest of humanity are only animals and have no more right to life than any other. If anything is vermin then people like this are.

He sounds awful...would not get far here...talk like that will get you in hot water with most everyone in our town..our foxes are thought of as delightful and rare, they stay well hidden for the most part...now the coyotes are a bit of a problem as they take our cats & chickens, my grand daughters lost one of their chickens to one just the other day..and there has been a bounty on them when they get overpopulated...but there is no such thing at this time that I know of. They keep the rabbit population down a bit but we still have plenty of rabbits..They take down a deer in packs now and again too..The cougar we had here..should have been caught and moved back to the mountain forest by now I would think...Cannot blame the wild animals..their homes have been encroached upon very selfishly by us here too...

Every creature has it,s place in the grand scheme of things Toto and will normally find a natural level , if anything upsets that level it usually means disaster somewhere else .

There is an old saying .. " never marry a man that is unkind to animals " makes you wonder about S.H dosn,t it ......

I am not a great lover of the urban fox, mainly because of the mange it carries. Most local dogs had fox mange last year because they come into our gardens. However I certainly wouldn't wish them any harm, but neither would I feed them.
As a girl in the Lake District, many years ago, I used to go with my family to Hound Trails. The pack of hounds followed the scent of a rag which had been soaked in aniseed (and probably other unmentionable things too). Different length of trail for the type of dog - bitches, puppies, maidens, dogs etc. They all had great exercise but not at the expense of some poor fox and nothing was killed at the end.

I think this writer is to be pitied - he must indeed have a very sad heart to wish such things.

The trouble is, some people get a pen in their hand and think it gives them the right to force their opinions on others. Obviously someone who talks like this is selfish, narrow minded and uneducated. I mean, he can't even use correct words...unpractical....is there such a word?....shouldn't it be impractical? I wouldn't give this person the time of day. This kind of attitude in this day and age is unbelievable. I think over here...someone like this would be called a "Redneck".....!!

I think the words " filthy disease ridden destructive scavengers " can be applied to many humans but I wouldn't advocate hunting them to extinction. ( or would I ? )

Yep...but Rednecks here would not want to kill off ALL the foxes...would love to hunt them though.....and with guns not dogs...

.

Agree with all of the above.Extreme views such as this are intolerable,and have no place in a decent society.Sometimes wonder if articles like this are deliberately submitted to generate debate.Is it any wonder that newspaper sales are dropping when filled with stuff like this. So much venom....where is his soul ?

People like this have no soul Bonkers.
Cat, if sonmething threatens our world then we as animals woul defend it as all animals would, but there is no threat from foxes, just a small amount of inconvenience an how much inconvenience do humans cause to inocent animals?
Hywel, I could not agree more.
Gilli, your comments just highlight the intelligence of morons like this.
Sorry Gee, I cannot agree. I would give him no pity. Being of simple, uneducated stock, I would treat him with the same contempt as he would the wildlife that seems to give him so much trouble. How dare nature upset his outlook on life. theseso called humans deserve no poity or respect and should be treated as the obnoxious things that they are.
Ginellie. I do feed the foxes every night and make no excuse or apologies for it. I don't expect everyone to share my views, but I would like people to respect nature in all of it's forms and I can only agree with Amy when she states that it's because man has destroyed their natural habitat that foxes and other wildlife need to encroach on what man seems to think is his But that's another argument).
When did man gain ownership of the world? He was one of the last animals to arrive.

Toto,as far as I am concerned,every living thing has its place in this world.Remember watching a documentary about vultures and the vital role they play in "clearing up".Apparently without them,disease would be rife,and the delicate balance of nature would be upset.Many would consider these creatures to be "vermin" too.
Feel that people need to see the bigger picture in the scheme of things.Obviously bigots cannot see beyond the end of their noses...........

Bonkers. I think I saw the same documentary. The only factor in the upsrtting of the balance of nature is man with his arrogance and greed and I can consider no animal as vermin. Vermin is a man made adjective for something that is inconveneint to him. The true vermin is man. Why can't people see what they are doing to a world which was not made for them alone?
The sooner I'm out of this "man made world" the better.

Toto...agree on your definition of vermin.However,please do not wish your life away.It is people who really do care that make a difference.Think that is why we become so focussed on our own gardens and the wildlife in them We can dictate what goes on in them to a certain degree.You feed the foxes and noone can stop you doing this,as it is your choice.We feed any creature in our garden which honours us with their presence.Please stay positive...In an increasingly hostile world,they need us !

Thanks Bonkers. Why can't people respect and cherish what they have rather than wish to destroy it. Is it money, greed, self importance or some other reason. The world would be far better off without man.

Well Toto...think people like us and many on GoY do cherish what we have,and that is what draws us together.Think along those lines and stay positive ! Dont let the b.....ds grind you down ! Please update on those blue tits of yours !

Thanks Bonkers. It's just that selfishness gets me down. As for the blue tits, there has been a lot going on. I don't have any decent pics of the proceedings but one, I presume the male, is in and out of the box every day now. He is still pecking around the hole from both inside and out and seems to be spending longer inside than he was originally. I am very hopeful that a home and family will eventually develop.

Brilliant Toto..the blue tits suffered so much from last years wet summer.!Glad that this pair seem to have found their niche.Please keep us informed of their progress.
Our ducks are eating us out of house and home,but so what !

slightly right of atilla the hun i think.

To counter the likes of this man who wrote this article we must continue caring for nature at all levels and that includes mankind..we are not seperate from nature..this group is a great tool for us to do this..for one another and for animals and all nature...This man is trying to keep his job and this sort of thing creates a stir..so it generates more readers...don't fall for his tactics to arouse your ire and steal your energy away from what is important and that by the way is nurturing life....don't give him your energy....nurture all of life better and more.

I'm glad Tilly and Charlie are doing well Bonkers and can't wait to hear or at least see the patter of tiny paddles. I know that you'll agree that the food bit is a very small price to pay for the priviledge of having them there. You are just being repaid for all the kindness you show to nature. May you and long continue.
Possibly a little more than "slightly right" Steve.
You are 100% right in your comments Cat, but these people really believe that they have the right to pick and choose what has the right to live and that which hasn't. They are a special breed that is, in my opinion the only species which should be eradicated.
Thank you all for your support and comments.

Thanks Toto..many will think us stupid..but the look on these creatures faces says it all.Tilly and Charlie are with us all day and the feeling when we open the door first thing in the morning and she runs down the bank to greet us is worth millions.

I firmly believe the problem is selfishness and ignorance. By continuing on as we do in feeding and encouraging the wildlife, we will set an example to others in the world. Particularly the younger generations. That's where the change is going to happen. These types with their pig headed and narrow minded views are never going to be changed, but they are a dying breed. Look how much the outlook towards the natural world has changed in just the last 40 years....how many sanctuaries are being set up, how many changes have been made to the chemicals we use, how our attitude toward pollution has changed....! I just hope it is not too little too late.

Thanks Gilli. Youre 100% right. I guess there is hope.
I am so pleased that Tilly and Charlie are settling in well and I can see that it would give you emmense pleasure to be greated by Tilly every morning. You never know with luck her offspring may return to you one day too. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Obama put our Whales & Orcas back on the endangered species list..thank goodness..they are not that many ..and they were being killed off with Navy sonar testing in the oceans...we were all very angry over that.The Navy now wants to use our oceans right off out coast for detonations and testing..and to think we worry so much over the eel grass beds...it is important to the young but why protect them there so much and them let them be bombed...good grief.

Doesn't make sense does it Cat. Our forces use a number of areas of our countryside as ranges for tanks and other types of gun. The upshot of this practice is that the areas concerned have become excellent nature reserves as the birds, animals etc have become used to the firing and access is either restricted to times when the ranges are not in use or denied completely.
Of course I understand that this would not be the case in the oceans as noise, vibration and the inevertable pollution travels so much farther, causing irrepairable damage to the sea bed and all the creatures who live there and for miles around.
I see no hope in ever stopping this kind of senseless destruction unless man suddenly decides that war is unproductive, cruel and causes so much collateral damage to our planet and peoples even when there is not actually a war to fight. Some hope.

Thanks for your good wishes Toto.Today she was wandering around the wildest part of the garden where the nettles are.Think she was checking out a suitable nest site ! All this while he was standing guard,and looking all around !

Just like a male then Bomkers. Women think we have the easy life but without us they would be running around like chickens with no heads. We are the constant they need, keeping watch and making sure everything is safe for them.
Where would they be without us?

Hold on Toto,Ill just see if that is a description Jane recognises...................No thought not Lol

Ah! sweet, innocent lady.

LOL !

LOL...! constant..ha..ha..ha..heads ...chickens...ha..ha.ha....
hmmm....sigh...OH!..sweet ..innocent.....ha..ha.ha......
Oh..my...hmmmm.....sigh...you are both too funny....LOL..!!

Well what can I say or should I cause if I did say what I would love to say it would upset most on GoY, all I will say is think about when some one in your family wants a newly built property and you all want to keep up with fashion changing furniture, buy clothes to keep up with the Jones as they say and buying insecticides and buying papers to read as you all contribute to this. the amount of food that people buy then throw away cause they have bought too much especially if there is a shortage like when the lorries blocked the oil terminals a few years ago. If the public did nt demand it or buy so much there would not be this today, greed is what I call it. The cloths I buy are mostly 2nd hand my furniture in my house mostly is 2nd hand and had my cloths for years also furniture. Each time you buy new furniture or a paper a tree gets cut down, each time you buy cloths more polution is made, each time you buy insecticides you are killing the natural habitat and each time you over buy food more trees are felled which houses the wild life for farming like the rainforest for Mc Donalds beef herd each time new house are built on flood planes or country sides like here where I live to house all the immergrants building on the green belt. these are the controlers of the world multi millions airs which plan to kill 80% of us in order to cut down population so I have heard. When I chat to the youngsters on a world wide chat room mainly in usa they are more on the ball of what is happening than you s they are wanting to bring the big corporations down eg round up the bloke that owns that controls 90% of the worlds food also some of the supermarkets too as they cause poverty to the town shops and local shops,they are starting to grow their own food as we know here they have been poisioning our foods here ,where I live they are digging up their lawns to put veg down, I heard from my freind the other day people who have put their name down for a plot allotment they said they will get their burial pot first before an allotment comes up. So now tell me who is to blame.In the past I have even climbed on skips to get an iron or piece of furniture as when I was married a long time ago we had a scrap yard I use to have to dismantle and help load engines on bad day s go out rag and bone, one mans rubbish is another mans treasure, and when people come into my home including a friend that owns her own business they are jealous of what I have then go back and copy how I have my home which I am what you would call poor.and done all the work myself .Hewel will know its how the Welsh mind works different to the rest. lol by the way men who are cruel to animals proven fact they become serial killers

You're certainly not upsetting me Morgana as I agree with 99% of what you are saying and although I can't speak for them I think that there are a lot of GOY members who would also agree.

Thank you Toto my mum years ago use to work for lords and ladies which lived in places and noble homes which was set in the countryside like Hampshire where she worked for lord and lady Montaque,and she said they specially breed foxs to hunt which they dont tell you. I agree there is a place for each and every thing,

There's lots of things they don't tell you Morgana. None of the things I've found out are nice.