Horse and Hound

A misty morning gradually transformed into another gloriously hot Indian summer afternoon. After dropping Ben, I headed to Castor Hanglands to collects some sample of pond plants for a training course I'm giving tomorrow. 

As I drove towards the reserve I spotted a foxhound on the road, and while I was walking along the access track I could hear the huntsman calling, so I hung around for a while in case there was a photo-opportunity. I wondered whether they were just exercising the hounds, as there seemed little urgency or organised pursuit of a scent-trail. 

While I'm not a supporter of hunting wild animals for pleasure, a pursuit which surely belongs in a bye-gone age, I do think foxhounds are very magnificent dogs. And I am aware that much of the best habitat around Peterborough is owned by the larger estates, who retained a rich mix of woodland, grassland and hedges largely for sporting purposes. Life is so rarely completely black-and-white.