Too Close For Comfort

Deano is called in to help the owner of a smallholding where the animals are providing the local foxes with an easy supper

- Dean Harrison

Like most shooters, I care about the countryside and the wildlife that’s in it, which is why this month’s tale begins at my local country store where I was buying some bird seed for the songbirds in my garden. Our house backs on to fields and we’re lucky to get a varied collection of birds coming in, which I feed all year round.

So there I was, buying bird seed and trying to ignore the temptation of the tool aisle, when Mark, a chap I know from the pub and walking the dog, came up to me. “I’ve been meaning to get hold of you for ages,” he said. “I’ve got a smallholding not far from you and I’m having a bit of bother with the foxes – I wondered if you could help me out?”

I’m always happy to lend a hand to people (especially where foxes are concerned) and explore new bits of ground, so I arranged to go over and take a look for him.

A few evenings later, he showed me around the ground. It’s not that big, about three acres in total, but very attractive to the local foxes – there are chickens, ducks, lambs and pigs, and goats that are just about to have their kids. So I could understand why he was getting visited so often! The ducks and chickens are in pens now but they used to be free range. They also used to keep a few rabbits, but that was a lesson learned the hard way as the foxes got the lot.