Aye, you could well have a point there. The fox hunting ban, however, was just on hunting with packs of dogs. I undersatnd that a farmer can still shoot the blighters. There was pro-hunt protest before the ban that shooting doesn't ensure a kill and may lead to a fox's dragging itself off to die in agony somewhere. But, of course, they WOULD, wouldn't they.

>end of fox hunt = foxes everywhere???
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>>The other night some friends of ours accidentally left their front door open all night (something to do with trying to get their cat in late). The next morning when they got up they came down to find a fox curled up asleep on the sofa. The fox panicked and ran rings around the lounge, doing what comes natural both first thing of a morning and when frightened. They should have withdrawn and let the animal slink out, but they tried to shoo it. It ended up crouching on their 'puter and urinating profusely all over it.
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>>I often see a fox on Wednesday evenings, when coming home from band practice, in the same road (the night before the trash collection).
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>>Last week walking through our park, at c. 19:00 I saw a badger just near the gates (a friend a few months ago said he saw a whole family of them cavorting in the same park, near the railings, not in some remote corner). It didn't run away immediately but watched me then slinked off.
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>>I'm supposed to live in a city - it's densely populated with terraced houses in streets and an animal has to cross roads to get to the park. A few years ago a fox (could be the same friendly-neighbourhood) in our street calmly stood and let me take close-up flash photos of it. Is it that these urban animals are evolving to be less scared of us predators?