The Fox and the Orchid 2nd Edition by Robin Page

The Fox and the Orchid... the words roll off the tongue like a simple Aesop's Fable, yet the link between the fauna and flora of our beautiful countryside is a complicated and delicate affair. The fox, pheasant, duck, grouse, trout and other 'quarry' that inhabit our islands depend on the same fast diminishing natural surroundings as do the lark, the owl, the chalk-hill blue butterfly... and the orchid. Man, the only perpetrator of deadly interference with this balance of nature, will often reverse the process only if persuaded by self-interest; hence sporting farmers and landowners who encourage the plentiful supply of game for their sport also benefit thousands of other species of plant and animal life. In fact it is largely because of this link between nature and our love of country sports over the centuries that, unlike some other European countries, Great Britain has retained so much of her traditional countryside.

The wildfowler's delight in the darkening marsh 'between the tides' as gulls follow lapwing overhead; the angler's deep appreciation of the flashes of colour that flit across his water; the foxhunter's ear for the wild sounds in the wood as he stands on point - Robin Page is a writer/farmer who sees in country sportsmen a love of wildlife and a concern for its habitat with which he can readily identify. He is not swayed by the emotion of the chase so much as by the logic of the combined aims of country sports, natural history and conservation.

The Fox and the Orchid contains a wealth of information on the role of hunting, shooting, stalking and fishing which will be devoured by followers of those sports. It is also the first book by a well-known and respected naturalist to show how all who have the survival of our natural surroundings at heart should appreciate the influence that country sports have exerted and are still exerting to achieve this end.