FOXGLOVE

If you really want to see it, home in on where the smell is so bad that you struggle to breathe, and there it is, looking nearly as vile as it smells. We back out of the dank cover in which it lives, and take a welcome gasp of fresh air.

Here we are in a big garden, some of which is formal, some of which has been allowed to go wild in a controlled manner, for the sake of the wildlife.

There is a large vegetable plot, where certain flowers and herbs have been planted in juxtaposition so that predatory insects are discouraged from the one by being drawn to the other. The owners plant with the phases of the moon, and are doing their best to work with Nature. The garden is totally organic and very productive.

My job is trapping. I catch mostly rabbits, but also squirrels. The rabbit-fencing is old, and in parts the rabbits have tunnelled under, for it was not well installed in the first place.

People underestimate how high rabbits can leap, and how deeply they will tunnel. The dogs are invaluable here, for not only will they show me by their scenting where rabbits have travelled, but they will also catch them if they can.

This requires tolerance on the part of the householders, for a dog through the flowerbeds at speed can do quite as much damage as the rabbit it catches; the traps of course do no damage at all. If I catch anything that is not a pest species, I can release it unharmed.

This pheasant prowling through the vegetables has been caught so many times that she has a name now. She was upset the first time, but now just sits patiently until she is released, and she obviously is not a quick learner.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette September 19