Paperback,
A4
202 Pages
Profusely illustrated and with many rare photographs not seen since the 19th century
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The Red Paper: Canids Up-dated 2011 edition includes section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK.
By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries. The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped.
Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting. The summation of over 30 years research reveals the damnable lie of "pest control" hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events.
The Girt Dog of Ennerdale is also dealt with in detail.
With the debate on the reinstatement of fox-hunting getting hotter as we draw closer to the UK general election and the Conservative Party promise to bring it back do not be misinformed! This book is the culmination of work begun in 1977 and draws on books published by fox hunting experts and giving an insight into their practices before it all really did go "underground". There are also -all fully referenced- accounts of the importing of foxes by the thousands into the UK specifically to "keep the sport alive".
But this was not written or intended as an anti-fox hunt book. The data is presented as found.
There is also a look at the history of wolves in Europe and how their reputation for being ferocious predators came about -particularly in France during severe Winters in the 19th century.
Coyotes, arctic foxes and jackals, amongst others, lived and bred in the UK and in some areas became so common that there were bounties for jackal heads. Menageries escapees is the usual solution to "how they got here" but the main blame is, again, mainly with local fox hunt groups even a wolf was due to be released in Devon for a hunt until protest from local farmers and live-stock owners stopped it. And Coyotes living in Epping Forest until the 1940s....
And there is more. The "Girt Dog of Ennerdale" has been identified by, amongst others, Cryptozoologists as a tiger or a Thylacine. The actual TRUTH is revealed in this work by doing something others have not: going directly to the source!
With one veteran naturalist calling this work "explosive" can you resist buying a copy?