They were definitely referred to as blow flies, the ones that go under your skin, but if it relates to a whole family of flies that's understandable. The only different one was the Tsetse fly, which is of course the one that can give you sleeping sickness, and funnily enough, it was the Tsetse fly that stopped the human encroachment from the South past the Okavango Delta, it was considered uninhabitable and disease ridden, so flies are useful

As disgusting as they are, and I freely admit to swatting flies, they too have their place in the grand scheme of things, their maggots make short work of corpses and the inedible stinky rotten things left lying around our countryside. Remarkably similar in that foxes have their rightful place, but when they are out of control and in the wrong place, they are simply a nuisance.

We have very few predators, but that's not to say there aren't many animals that could cause us harm. Porcupines could cause us harm, but they aren't out to prey on us as a species.

My point about raising ethics is that some people find it difficult to remove the ethics bit of it, and that applies to how they view an animal and their perception of how intelligent it is or isn't. Just as an example, there are people on here willing to kill flies because they are a nuisance to them, when really, flies are only doing what they do naturally. Flies aren't really very cute or fluffy, so it's easy to remove our thoughts about whether or not it's justifiable to treat them in a different way to an animal that is appealing, cute and fluffy.

I'm glad your friend survived, he's very lucky if it was something like a brown snake. I remember having to kill a black mamba we came across in Namibia, it's spine was broken and even though it couldn't move it was still evoked an incredible sense of power. A good friend of mine at the time had the unenviable task of taking on a spectacled cobra which had gone into the log pile at their house, they had three children so he didn't want to risk leaving it there, all he had was a spade.

i love foxes but just like a lot of dogs and cats if given the chance they will kill domestic animals, difference being they have to take any opportunity just to survive, ...my father-in law has an allotment and keeps chickens and his racing pigeons on it, hes never had a problem with either foxes or cats because he keeps his livestock secure and even if he did suffer losses he would never blame the animal,....unfortunately a lot of others on those allotments arnt really animal lovers!!, and a fair few of the pigeon fanciers in particular, regularly trap and kill cats..make my blood boil how cruel some people are!

that's disgusting. Just make sure his pigeons have secure roosts where cats cannot reach. People make me sick sometimes.

its vile isnt it, one fancier even ended up in hospital from a cat bite, he was trying to drown it at the time!! ffs

as for my farther-inlaw..i really dont think anything could get into his loft, hes got it like forte knox but even if a cat ever did manage to get in, or a fox into his chickens, he would never dream of harming them.

this is part of his loft, theres also a big flight to the left but its not in the picture.

Looks great Noush!! We had a pond with ducks up on the Wirral - the whole area was fenced with an electric fence to keep Charlie away. Much the best way of dealing with the problem, rather than go blasting away with shot guns which is futile because you won't shoot every single one, there will always be one to come back and reraid the coop!!

i couldnt agree with you more Gnasher

Shotguns? what a silly notion, they're effective for shooting game birds, not foxes, and many shoots do not allow the shooting of ground game including foxes. Numbers are controlled with far more human methods.

wot like snaring,trapping and poisoning them Jo

No, again, silly notions and practices you know I don't support, lamping and shooting with a high calibre rifle, that ensures they are killed cleanly and quickly.

but many gamekeepers do use those methods to kill them.