Foxes not the real predators

I have been following the discourse about foxes recently with not a little quiet concern.

Like Penny Little (who runs a sanctuary for orphaned fox cubs), I have read of foxes being blamed for attacking pets without evidence to back them up.

The calls for culls of foxes absolutely horrify me, whilst the callous suggestion from Douglas and Hazel Simpson (Letters, July 21) to let foxes starve to death left me feeling sick.

Such calls, however, do not surprise me. They are typical of how detached mankind has become from nature.

Here in Moredun we have had urban foxes for many years now.

Truly beautiful creatures, they are a joy to see and I have never heard of anyone having a problem with them. Indeed, being extremely shy, foxes will normally run a mile from humans.

If there is a problem with any animals in Edinburgh it is with domestic cats hunting birds (as pointed out by Brian Sands). I find it strange that cat owners, claiming to be animal lovers, will point the finger unfairly at foxes, yet there are extremely few who will put a collar and bell on their cats to protect birds.

Urban foxes should not be feared or shunned but protected and enjoyed. Perhaps if more people were to observe them, they would learn to work in harmony with nature and not in competition against it.

Leslie John Thomson Moredunvale Green Gilmerton