Bizarre Countryfile finalists

[Brocakat]

I suppose the way around that problem, pressld2 isn't to say ,'No captives' but rather - 'No pets'.

Surely no-one believes aquarium - dwellers to be ' pets ' .

( I know some people believe that their snakes are 'pets' - but I beg to differ. I think most pythons, on attaining such a size - would squeeze the life out of their owner ) .

[MetalMoth]

For me wildlife photography has always been about appreciating nature in the wild. My love of wildlife has gone hand in hand with my love of photography. When I go to a zoo I find it so uninspiring and boring photographing the animals there as it is too simple to do. For me the excitement in photography has always been in being outdoors on nature reserves looking for the species yourself and capturing them in their environment. This is why if I see photos of captive animals their quality is immediately diminished a little for me.

[davecatt]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

The fox in snow photo is apparently by Matt Binstead, Head Keeper at the British Wildlife Centre.
:- Fox in the snow by Sweetmart
It can be seen from the associated image tags, that the animal is a captive/pet, by the name of "Pickles". (Clicking on the tag "Pickles" brings up several more images of the fox).

I don't know whether it is just me, but there is something about the line of the snow across the animal's face that looks decidedly odd. - The line of separation looks very strange. Admittedly, the images that can be viewed on the web are small, and I can only assume that it looks better on the print that was used for judging.

As others have posted, I too am not really "grabbed" by any of this year's finalists, and feel that more deserved entries have been unjustly cast aside.

Regards,
Mike.

Look again mate and I think you'll find Pickles is actually a cat.
Pickles by WillieH
Dave