I write with regard to the recent letter about a slope being used as a breeding ground by foxes.

The council had plans to destroy the naturally beautiful plants and trees on the slope between Milton Douglas Road and Smith Crescent in Hardgate. I thought it was just a clean-up operation as the bushes often overhang Milton Douglas pathway until I noticed that the tractor was removing huge areas of growth. The tractor operator said that he had to clear the lot right to the roots. I have never considered myself a "tree hugger" but I phoned the council to ask them what was going on and they said that there had been a complaint about "vermin" (foxes). I asked them to stop the work as I and most of my neighbours were quite sad that we were to lose such a thing of beauty.

Let me give you a quick nature lesson; if you cut down a natural habitat then you don't get rid of the "vermin", no, it is simply displaced, usually into people's back gardens. So this strategy is simply foolish.

I was also shocked to read one of your reader's comments - "Last year in England a child was almost killed when a fox entered the house. "I know foxes can't be a protected species but if the royal family can hunt them to their hearts' content then they must be some form of vermin." Each year many children are killed by the family pet in their own homes and if the reader is worried then they should keep the windows closed small enough so that a fox can't get in.

On the same comment, strangely, the writer mentioned the royal family hunting foxes. However, fox hunting has been banned for everyone, including the Queen herself.

I have seen the foxes in question and I'm happy to say that they are probably the best example of foxes that I've ever seen and in this day of eco-friendliness, we should all enjoy having such biodiversity on our doorsteps. These are not bears or lions, they are just a nice family of foxes so leave them alone please and don't ask the council to raze the place to the ground again.

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