Snakes alive!

I read your feature on grass snakes ( Snake charmer, August issue) with great interest, but I note the omission of the pheasant as a predator partly responsible for grass snake decline. Over 35 million pheasants are released each year and prey upon young grass snakes, lizards and amphibians, yet little is reported. David Burton, Shropshire

We say We are not aware of grass snake decline due to predation by pheasants. Our wildlife features are written in the context of gardens, where pheasants are typically rare.