Different attitudes to wildlife (From Oxford Mail)

Different attitudes to wildlife

10:00am Wednesday 27th July 2011 in Letters

IT was probably unplanned, but what a cunning juxtaposition of attitudes to wildlife (July 18), where on one page the immensely rich and privileged Duke of Marlborough holds forth on those activities which he deems are “an integral part of the English countryside – hunting, fishing and shooting”, and on the reverse side there is a delightful letter from Tony O’Gorman, recalling his pleasure in witnessing close encounters with our beautiful, native fox and fooling the despicable hunters (those were voles, by the way, which the fox was catching, not moles).

Who deserves to inherit the earth – the landed gentry clinging on to their privilege and with it their perceived right to kill wildlife for sport, or the ‘swede bashers’, as Mr O’Gorman refers to himself, who prefer looking, learning and leaving alone?

How about contemplating “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”, while reviewing the Game Fair at Blenheim Palace over the weekend?

The definition of meek according to my dictionary is ‘piously humble’. Hmm, can country landowners do piously humble?

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