PSMITH of Horwich (Letters, December 23) objects to our protest against the hare hunt at Rivington on Boxing Day
and even drops in several hunting terms in order to impress us with his undoubted expertise on the subject.
He mocks the terrorising and killing of hares by the Holcombe Hunt as "presumably by their yapping dogs", claiming that any "self respecting hare that could out-run two greyhounds in a hare-coursing event would laugh all the way to its burrow on first sight of John Peel".
As any schoolchild would tell P Smith, hares don't live down burrows rabbits do; hares live above ground at all times. Because of this, hares use their superior speed to try and escape but the superior stamina of the hounds wears the hare down to exhaustion.
The hare is then simply overwhelmed by the hounds and killed. The hare can be chased for up to 90 minutes although usually less if the hare is pregnant. So much for a hare laughing "all the way to its burrow".
Nor was his attempt at wit anymore successful, as the protest wasn't against the hunting of "Reynard", a term for fox, but the hunting of hares.
It's sad that he and a small number of people think Boxing Day without killing hares is as "bland and bleached as over-boiled cabbage".
The cancellation of the Boxing Day hunt was great news for those of us who appreciate wildlife.
Kate Stratton,
North West League Against Cruel Sports
PO Box 359,
Chorley,
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