I want to look at some of the myths about fox hunting.

Firstly, fox hunting was devised as a pastime, never a means of controlling fox population for any other purpose than that of making sure there are enough foxes for the hunting season.

The other excuse for it that it is done out of concern for livestock is relatively recent one – no caring sheep farmer wants mobs of horses riders 4x4s and terrier men rampaging over his land, possibly spreading diseases and causing ewes to abort.

Then we have the 'country versus town' lie. Many country people have been opposed to fox hunting for generations, as late as the '30s, '40s and '50s many sheep farmers and rural workers did not want the hunts rampaging over their land. Unfortunately, being tenants, upsetting their fox hunting landlords could bring retribution.

Then we hear that the foxes are killed by a nip in the back of the neck, which kills them instantly. Another lie. Dogs rip and tear their prey apart.

Then we hear the fox should be shot/poisoned and snared as well as being attacked by fox hunts as they are vermin. But this is because it the cruel sports lobby and their media cronies who have demonised the fox as a bad animal.

It is comparable with the wolf – early humans found them convenient scavengers leading to them being domesticated (thus our modern dog). The ignorance and superstition of the medieval period caused the wolf to be made out a monster – as with the fox today.

DAVID THOMAS Hisomley Near Westbury