Should we be friendly to foxes?

JOANNA LUMLEY is a charismatic celebrity whose popularity lends her views credibility, but we shouldn’t ignore how weak her case is (Mail). She suggests we should offer urban foxes food and many do. She lets them into her house, but foxes are born for the wild and are unpredictable, so she’s lucky that there hasn’t been an unhappy incident. Foxes are by nature predators and providing them with food debilitates their skills and makes them rely too much on humans. It breeds over-familiarity and breaks down the natural barriers which exist between humans and predators. Let them live their own lives in their own habitats and ditch a romantic view of these attractive but potentially dangerous creatures.

DENIS BRUCE, Bishopbriggs, dunbartonshire. I’M glad Joanna lumley feeds wild foxes and lets them into her home. I also feed one. Cats also can carry a the toxoplasmosis toxin, particularly dangerous to pregnant women, in their faeces. Foxes bury food to keep it for the next day — that is why they will kill more than one chicken at a time. Foxes will eat other animals if they are hungry, and if people feed them, they won’t be hungry. They aren’t vicious unless attacked or trapped. Foxes are gentle creatures which are more afraid of us. Some of my neighbours don’t like me feeding the foxes, but Joanna is in the right.

name and address supplied. Hunting doesn’t hurt the fox, but the indiscriminate shooting of them since the fox-hunting ban was imposed in England means in many places they now face extinction.

JOHN BRYANT, spalding, Lincs. JOANNA LUMLEY merely worries about the treatment of the underdog, whether human or animal. urban foxes exist because we have stolen their environment. The Tories plan to bring back fox-hunting in england clearly to please farming supporters.

Mr and Mrs J. F. SAYER, ipswich.