Whispering Smith Column published in the Littlehampton Gazette September 8th 2016

 I understand that the question of the fox and the allotment is under discussion at tonight’s Community Resources Committee. In these days when the cruel and unnecessary taking of wild life comes easily to the few, the majority are rebelling and it may well behove the LTC to consider the light in which they will be viewed should they support the blood thirsty few. Apparently Teresa May is calling for a free vote on the repeal of the fox hunting ban, with the world and the country in turmoil ‘tis a pity she cannot find something better to occupy her time. Hands up, I am not against the taking of game for the table and it has been my delight on a moonlit evening to enjoy the taking of a wild rabbit or even a brace of woodpigeons and I have on many occasions been made to ‘eat crow’ but I cannot abide those people who kill animals simply for pleasure and then defend their activities on the grounds that hunting is needed for conservation of the species, the protection of ground nesting birds – game birds they will later slaughter in their thousands – or whatever other cockamamie reason they come up with. Truth is they enjoy killing and the spectacle of that act, I have seen it many times. The hunting ban must remain and according the vast majority of the British people that retention must be enforced and improved. Similarly there must be an end to persecution of urban foxes simply because allotment holders fail to build fox proof coops or because they value a carrot above the life of a wild animal that dares to poop on lawns that were once their natural domain. For further information regarding this lovely creature, the Fox Welfare Society will happily brief you on the merits of Reynard.

I hear from my river-watch informant that Sid the Seal is back in the Arun but no pictures yet. Be on the lookout!

Photo courtesy of the National Fox Welfare Society