ALWAYS Animal Protection Over Money And Popularity

 (c)2023 respective copyright owner

There is a problem that keeps cropping up over the years. Whether the exotic animals work or specialised British canid and mustelid work. Many years back the Daily Express offered me £10,000 for a copy of my map showing the location of British large cats such as puma and lynx. At the time I had a paired of holed boots and one tatty pair of trousers to my name so £10K sounded good. I said no. Someone for the Sun newspaper hearing this upped the offer to £15,000 and, yes, I rejected it.  I already knew through a second party that the newspapers had a couple of "hunters" ready to send out to try to "prove" (kill) that there were puma and lynx in the UK.

I would sooner be going out in the rain in a pair of socks than take money.

I posted this to one of my Face Book groups today and in a way it explains my attitude and why I would sooner be poor.

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Just to make something very clear so if anyone you know has tried to join this group and complained they were turned down.

This is NOT a public "fluffy animals" and social media Likes page. This page is about foxes and badgers and mainly in and around Bristol.

If someone asks to join and their main profile has no "About" information, no posts, no videos and maybe an image of an animal then those are markers FB warned are signs of a scammer or hacker. Worse still many fox groups on FB let people join with these profiles and if they respond to a question it's "I like foxes".

Wildlife groups are full of pro hunt people who lurk around until they decide to spread a foxes are a menace stories. Most will just watch for information on where fox dens and badger setts are located.

In 1977 I decided that "Neither by word nor deed any animal to harm" was a good motto.

If you are on this group it is because I checked your profiles.

I still always advise never to mention a location where you know there are badger setts and fox dens. If I want to find out whether they are located (badger setts mainly as foxes will move cubs around) I will message privately and ask.

Yearly there are requests from alleged photographers or film students asking where they can find and film badgers or foxes and my advice has always been that it is up to the individual but I simply say "No. Go look for yourself". I have just had two blank profiles from persons claiming to be "totally fascinated by urban foxes particularly in Bristol" but offering no one to back up their university credentials.

Also, why Bristol when London is said to have the largest urban fox population and there are smaller towns and cities with urban foxes that are easier to film in? These people might be genuine but they get no cooperation from me. By the way, with most university projects a person such as a professor or doctor overseeing the work is given and no one has so far furnished this info so...suspect.

Yes, I may seem a tad "intense" at times but that's how I write and I get to the point quickly and am not here to make friends (or make money) but here to educate and learn more about our larger mammals.

Also; those rumours that I bite people are untrue and that has not happened since 1989.

That was a joke...sort of (it was a dog I bit)