Hare Coursing

[poacher ladd]

so if hunting with dogs dosent kill tha tmaney why put a stop too it?

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by poacher ladd

so if hunting with dogs dosent kill tha tmaney why put a stop too it?

Look what happened to otters.

[poacher ladd]

pesse if you think that killing mabey 2 foxes a week per hunt on a good year is going too kill all the foxes in britan then you are living in a fairy land darling

[bunnylover]

What exactly is a countryside proffessional????Ever heard of FREE RANGE???Hard to get free range fox proof completely,some foxes have a taste for lamb,a farmer friend of mine was losing 3 day old lambs last year.Its one thing having an interest in animals ,country affairs etc and actually experiencing the country side.I hate cruelty and rarely kill foxes i hunt ,unless requested to do so,even then i take no pleasure in it.For hares to flourish foxes need controlling as fox numbers are booming ,the only foxes i kill are on land where hares are present and lambs and other livestock are being taken.
I don t hunt hares however but would defend any mans right to do so.

Ps Im not a countryside proffessional

[Gelert]

Originally Posted by eeyore

so if its not about killing the hare where will gelert get his wild ferocious joy from ?

I think I've said quite a lot about this. Immersion in nature, an experience of connection and interrelationship, a sense of meaning.....to sum it up pretty inadequately, a feeling of being part of the proper order of things.

And I'm not a he

Anyway, I'm off to learn about managing woodlands and various other things on this very fine site

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by poacher ladd

pesse if you think that killing mabey 2 foxes a week per hunt on a good year is going too kill all the foxes in britan then you are living in a fairy land darling

Noo but it is possible to hunt animals to extinction. There's the fact that hunting as it was done recently wasn't on the whole making much of a dent in the population therefore as a form of control (as that was claimed aim) it was pointless and purely done as a sport. I suppose some hunts were more ruthless than others. There's probably more foxes in towns now then in the countryside..... Darling.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by bunnylover

What exactly is a countryside proffessional????Ever heard of FREE RANGE???Hard to get free range fox proof completely,some foxes have a taste for lamb,a farmer friend of mine was losing 3 day old lambs last year.Its one thing having an interest in animals ,country affairs etc and actually experiencing the country side.I hate cruelty and rarely kill foxes i hunt ,unless requested to do so,even then i take no pleasure in it.For hares to flourish foxes need controlling as fox numbers are booming ,the only foxes i kill are on land where hares are present and lambs and other livestock are being taken.
I don t hunt hares however but would defend any mans right to do so.

Ps Im not a countryside proffessional

strangley enough i have heard of free range - but hens are diurnal and most will return to a henhouse to roost at night - or roost in trees etc - the stupid ones that dont get eaten - natural selection again.

and I describe myself as a countryside proffesional because i have worked and lived in the countryside my entire life first as a child growing up on a farmed estate, then as a volunteer, warden , then as a contractor , then as a ranger, then.... etc so I think its fair to say that i have actually expereinced the countryside.

and your argument doesnt hold water , to whit

a) hare coursing isnt about the kill because the hare often out run a lurcher and escape
b) lurchers can be used to control foxes - principally because a fox isnt fast enough to out run a lurcher
c) so how come these hares that are so fast and whily they can out run numerous lurchers need your help to avoid the comparitively slow fox.

and

d) you hate cruelty but see nothing wrong in spending a day watching a couple of large dogs chase a terrified hare arround

at the end of the day not everyone who works and live in the countryside is pro blood sports and it is extremly arrogant to claim that only those who agree with you truly understand the countryside.

[Xanadu2]

Originally Posted by honeybee

All the proper research and evidence I have read suggests foxes do not need controlling at all, they controll their own population effectively.

Hi Honeybee,

I would be interested in your sources of reference for that, if you would be kind enough to post them, please?

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Xanadu2

Hi Honeybee,

I would be interested in your sources of reference for that, if you would be kind enough to post them, please?

I had to do a debate years ago pro and anti fox-hunting. I can remember stuff but not the bibliography. If I get chance to look I'll see.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Gelert

I think I've said quite a lot about this. Immersion in nature, an experience of connection and interrelationship, a sense of meaning.....to sum it up pretty inadequately, a feeling of being part of the proper order of things.

I'd accept that it is part of the propper order of things to kill your own food - but not to kill solely for the enjoyment of doing so.

stripped of the flowery words what you are essentially saying is that you like to kill because it makes you feel good, which is something that I can never understand or condone - and i would expect that it is unlikely that many other members of a wildlife site are going to feel otherwise.

Still i appreciate your right to hold differing views and am happy to agree to disagree.