I will explain that I wrote 'hare coursing' using '' to try and emphasise that these guys on my farm are not true coursers just thugs. Maybe I wasn't clear At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

No problem, unfortunately most people group who should know better don't understand the difference and it is easier to say we are all blood thirsty vandals. D4 HSE Lux for me
FL2 HSE Zermatt & Alpacca for the wife now gone
Skoda Yeti L&K for the wife.

pelyma wrote:

Andy C unfortunately your view miss the point in the UK. The rabbit is an alien specie, the fox predates on many rare species such as the grey partridge, red grouse, wading birds and even ground nesting birds of prey. The UK landscape is almost entirely man made and can support very high numbers of fox, it is also ideal rabbit habitat. We cannot leave things to be, they will not sort themselves. In a man made environment there will be no self regulation, in fact cars kill more foxes than all other methods combined. I have shot them with rifle and shotgun, hunted them with hounds and running dogs, snared them, trapped them, and dug them. For me if I were a fox being hunted would be the preferred method, no wounding risk if I'm fit I get away if I'm not I die.

Andy I'm a nature observer that lives in a much more crowded country that you. I understand many people do not like what I do, yet few ever take the time to actually find out why it is such a spectacle. I've yet to take anyone who has had reservations who has not appreciated the beauty and spectacle of it. It is no different to watching 2 cheetahs chase a gazelle, it takes place in the hare's backyard that she knows every inch of. As soon as a hare is out of a coursing field she will stop and eat. If you have never seen a big January hare twist turn and jump you have never really seen a hare. They can turn 360 degrees in their own body length when running flat out and make even the best human produced athlete (greyhound) look silly. But to see 1000s shot when coursing was banned makes my blood boil  D4 HSE Lux for me
FL2 HSE Zermatt & Alpacca for the wife now gone
Skoda Yeti L&K for the wife.

I have only just come across this topic and can only say as an occasional follower of the hunt in and around the Cheshire countryside that our foxes appear to be much smarter than the hounds.
I can remember one Boxing Day hunt near to Oulton Park race circuit the fox leading the hounds on a long circular chase, hardly braking into a sweat and when the hounds did eventually get near leaping over the wall into the circuit giving them the metaphorical "finger" as if it knew that this was forbidden ground for the hunt.
As CG states, we should be more worried about rats as I have seen a statistic that states "you are never more than 30 feet away form a rat anywhere in the UK" and I am certain that rats carry more disease and kill more birds and fellow creatures that any other predator and a lot of times for pleasure rather than food.
I would be inerested to know how GC keeps them out of his chicken sheds? Life Honorary Member of Wallasey Motor Club.
Licenced MSA Radio Operator for 35+ years.
Rallying is the only sport.

I have a large amount of owls on the farm , which keep the rat numbers down. then careful use of rat poison. Vermin are not really a problem if you keep the place tidy and clean.

On the dog/rabbit front, the other day I was showing a double glazing rep and a nice lady from the landlords office around the outside of the house. The dog ran up with a rabbit in its mouth and proceeded to disembowel it in front of us
Many people around us keep a few hens/ducks in their gardens and these are often murdered by the local foxes. Foxes have annoying habit of killing all the hens yet only taking one to eat.  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

If ever got the chance to chase fox hunters or gypo coursers across a field with a base ball bat and my mean old male Rotti in toe I would soon make them think about the artistic sporting beauty of it all. 58 HSE, auto, lago grey, tints. Mine and my dogs Storm and Sky
TT Quattro, black. Ers.
AC Cobra rep in build. Ars.