Vocal Voices

On our local village forum, that is.
A couple of days ago, there was a fox hunt at the top of the village!
People riding around in scarlet coats, hounds, the lot.
I would scarcely have thought that this neck of the woods was fox hunting territory, but there you are. It must have been a drag hunt as the actual hunting of foxes with hounds was banned years since?
People did say that they saw a fox though. Not surprising as it is wick with them round here.
But the reaction on the village forum was incredible. People ranting and raving about the huntsmen, others saying poor little foxy, and one guy who is a pest controller going out of his way to wind them up, showing a picture of a fox he shot last week.
Blimey O'Reilly, the language everyone used.
Spelling mistakes notwithstanding, it got well blue.
It is amazing how strongly people feel on the subject, on both sides.

The foxes are hunted here too, but only by gun. there seems to be a plethora of them around here at the moment and they are being hunted on Thursdays and Sundays, as they're the only days hunters are allowed to hunt.

A lot of people here have chickens and they are losing a lot. Jan lost 8 last week, in just two nights

My mate, the now 'infamous' driver was on fox control down Dronfield way last week. The last thing he would do is gloat over killing a fox.

It's an emotive subject with no real 'rights' or 'wrongs'. They are good looking animals, no doubt about that, but they also kill for fun as much as out of necessity. We have loads round here and some people, stupidly IME, feed them. I suspect that they have played a part in driving away the hedgehogs we used to see fairly regularly. Not by killing them, but simply by being about and frightening them.

I am 1000000% against fox hunting. Do foxes need population control - probably yes; but that does not give anyone the right to chase them for what seems like hours on end and make it a sport and a fun day out - that is just wrong on absolutely every darn level. If you have to kill then you do it humanely with a gun so the death is instant and painless. And you need to be licenced and proven a proficient shot before you're allowed to do that. But kill for sport and for fun - no way; no need whatsoever. My brother is a forester and they have to cull certain animal populations so I do get the need and I'm not saying it doesn't need to be done at times - but no way will they ever allow the hunted animal to suffer a prolonged chase and hunt; it's quick and clean. And let me tell you he's spent many an hour with his dog looking for an animal that has been shot and injured by someone because they didn't know what they were doing - so he then was able to release the poor creature from it's pain and suffering. So no kill is every done lighthearted

Frank - as for foxes and hedgehogs; I suspect the reason you no longer have hedgehogs is because
- most properties now-a-days are fenced with concrete gravel boards and posts so no natural easy ways for the hedgehogs to get underneath
- gardens too tidy / use of pesticides so not enough bugs and insects for the hedgehogs (and no, slugs and snails are not top of the menu for them - they get ill from them)
- more roads and cars than there used to be so more dead hedgehogs on the roads

I could go on and on about both topics, both very dear to me, but I'll just get too emotionally involved....

Ria, I've never had any inclination to hunt foxes in any way. If you are a farmer and foxy is round your hen house though, I can see why he'd want to get rid of the fox. I know they do trap foxes.
Some people also go "lamping". Taking a 4x4 into the country with a powerful torch and shooting the fox when they get the lamp on it. Some people who do that though are dodgy, to me. Lampers talk about controlling foxes but I know some just enjoy killing foxes.

Ria wrote:Frank - as for foxes and hedgehogs; I suspect the reason you no longer have hedgehogs is because
- most properties now-a-days are fenced with concrete gravel boards and posts so no natural easy ways for the hedgehogs to get underneath
- gardens too tidy / use of pesticides so not enough bugs and insects for the hedgehogs (and no, slugs and snails are not top of the menu for them - they get ill from them)
- more roads and cars than there used to be so more dead hedgehogs on the roads

Ria, we don't have either of those problems locally. The area is surrounded on three sides by woodlands, shrubbery, a few culverts and open greens. A hog could virtually go round the whole site and never have to cross a hardened path. And then there's the huge cemetery just over the road. What we do have, though, are badgers and urban foxes and their numbers have grown over the years. Sadly a young badger was run over during the Christmas period. I am not saying that they kill the hogs, but just wonder if their presence makes the hogs feel uncomfortable.

I made a Hog Hotel out of an old box following tips from the BHPS and put it behind a shed under a pile of wood and leaves near to a constant puddle. Fingers crossed it has done the job.

There's a lot of antipathy to the local hunt on our town Facebook page as well. Criticisms are mainly of them holding up traffic on the local roads. There's also been some spat recently down in Blandford about them using the Town Meadow to gather.

Over the New Year, the hunt was out south of here, and reputedly (according to the hunt sabs) the hounds caught and killed a fox. The jury is slightly out, as the sabs have been accused of using a generic dead fox photograph as proof. There was an inevitable twitter storm, and I'd say most people posting were anti-hunt.

I certainly believe that farmers should have the right to shoot foxes especially knowing the carnage they cause to domestic fowl. As for the hunt, personally, I tend to lean towards the anti view, but that's primarily due to the sheer arrogance of huntsmen of which unfortunately I had some experience many moons ago in Somerset, and which left a lasting impression.

Workingman wrote:

Ria wrote: What we do have, though, are badgers and urban foxes and their numbers have grown over the years. Sadly a young badger was run over during the Christmas period. I am not saying that they kill the hogs, but just wonder if their presence makes the hogs feel uncomfortable.

Ah yes, badgers would be the issue - they (and humans) are top predator for hedgehogs as they can pull them apart with their long claws. Foxes are opportunistic hunters really and will usually nab a hedgehog that is ill. A fully curled up hog they'd leave well alone. Although a more savvy fox may wait quietly for the hedghog to uncurl and will then nab it, but that usually results in hind legs damaged. Badgers on the other hand will leave nothing but the spines; so the hogs quickly learn to migrate

Hmm, we only know of one badger sett locally, and that's in an older and disused part of the nearby cemetery, but it would probably bring our woods somewhere near the periphery of their range. There are only a few gardens about and they are across the main road, hence the roadkill. However, there are no pet dogs about as we are not allowed them, so that makes it easier for the few badgers to roam. It could be the reason the hogs are a bit wary of being out and about.

I'll put a few large pine cones near the door of the hotel to see if they get moved about.

Workingman wrote:I'll put a few large pine cones near the door of the hotel to see if they get moved about.

I do hope you've got hedgehogs, they're amazing little critters - smelly and loud; but very very cute