I seriously hope this doesn't break any rules regarding dead animals. It's certainly not too graphic, contains no photos and isn't really about mass slaughter. It raises a few interesting topics ( for me ).

Okay ... So I set off yesterday to a regular country spot to walk the dogs. About ten mins away from the car, whilst crossing a large open field surrounded by woodland, we come across a young guy with a spaniel. He's friendly enough and he asks me if it is my dogs that are killing the rabbits. I tell him that we've only been out for ten mins and we haven't seen any rabbits. Now I don't hunt with the dogs, but they are lurchers. If they see a rabbit or squirrel they are off. They rarely catch the rabbits. If they do then the rabbit is killed very quickly and the one that has caught it runs off to a quiet spot and scoffs the lot in a minute flat. Fur and all.

This young lad explains that on his walk he has seen a few dead rabbits lying on the ground. I ask him if they had Myxi or had been shot. He had no idea. I carry on my way.

About 200 yards further into this field I come across a dead rabbit. Still soft. Adult. No Myxi. A single bloody hole in it's chest, so it's obviously been shot. No exit wound.

About a quarter of a mile further and we leave the field and enter into a small wooded area. There's a pretty stream that meanders through the trees and there's a cute bridge that crosses the stream. We cross the bridge and start to exit the wood on the other side and go back into another open field. Another dead rabbit. Still soft. Adult. No Myxi. This poor soul has a small hole in it's belly just in front of it's rear thigh and then about 9 inches away there is another hole in it's neck. The neck hole ( presume exit? ) has opened up to a tear about 2 inches by 1 inch. I've seen the lurchers catch themselves on one single barb on a fence and end up with a hole like that.

I don't hunt with the airguns. My first thoughts were that this person wasn't really worrying too much about head shots ... or wasn't that good a shot. Then I wondered whether an airgun would cause that sort of wounding. The one with the single hole in the chest ... yes ... but the entry wound with an exit wound 9 inches away, where the projectile had taken a lengthways path through the rabbit?

My next thoughts were why would someone just shoot them and then leave them there? Maybe they had been asked to shoot rabbits by the farmer but had no use for them so they just leave them there for the foxes/buzzards etc?

My next thoughts ...

As I said earlier ... If my lurchers catch a rabbit they scoff it instantly. They love them. If I throw them some left over meat bits at home ( so dead and cold meat ) they wolf it down instantly. I've seen these lurchers come across all sorts of disgusting things and eat it. Mouldy bits of bread etc. This walk was late afternoon and they were due to be fed when we got home so they were hungry. On arriving home they scoffed their biscuit and mix. I really expected them to see the dead rabbits, which were soft as I say, and grab them and run off and eat them. They looked at them, sniffed them and just walked off. No interest in them at all.

What's that about? Is it because they weren't pumped up by the adrenaline of the chase and the catch? Are they not interested in dead meat? I sort of get that but like I say ... if we go to the cricket club and there are some old uncooked burgers left lying around from a BBQ ... even several days old and stinking ... they wolf them down. Freshly shot and soft dead rabbit ... no interest at all.

Hopefully this thread is allowed and I'll get some interesting comments.

On the walk back to the car along the canal I met a boat person walking his bulldog. He was living in a 32 foot cruiser with his girl and his dog. Vegetarians ... no great surprise. What a decent and interesting chap he was. I enjoyed a chat with him for several minutes and then walked back to the car. Dropped the dogs in the car and then popped in the beautiful country church by the car park where you are invited to go in and make yourself a cuppa and enjoy a free biscuit or two. Rarely anyone in there so it was pleasant to sit and have a brew for 5 mins in the peacefulness, and the fading late afternoon light, before driving home.

A good walk that raised a few questions.