Having started on 30 April the first of a brand new series of programmes called Foxes Live went out on Channel 4. After nearly six hours of TV time, what did the great British public learn? Has it helped the life of the urban pest controller called on to treat these ”pests”?
Judging by the comments which have come into thePestoffice from our readers, you were not impressed.
|
If you missed the programmes, the series has its own micro-site on theChannel 4 pages where you can see a selection of videos taken from the programmes – it certainly saves sitting through it all on iPlayer! These clips clearly indicate the ”cute and cuddly” approach which ran throughout the series. However, the video clip reviewing the opinion data as sent in by listeners is worth a watch. With nearly 10,000 responses, 86% of people said they liked foxes. Alarmingly, 1.5% reported they had had a fox enter their homes. Click here to review the video clips available. |
|
|
|
Danny Thatcher and Brian Redpath of B&D Pest Control featured in one of the hour-long programes – followed by Danny being involved in the subsequent studio debate. This was a brave move by Danny – as pest control doesn”t usually require TV interviewing skills – but he stuck to his guns and came over well. Even so, Danny received death threats for having despatched a captured fox. Another, not totally surprising, outcome is the demand by viewers wanting to acquire fox cubs as pets! Garry Wiliams of Urban Wildlife said he would scream if he got another phone call asking if he could get someone a fox cub as a pet. There will be further coverage and debate around these programmes in the forthcoming issue of Pest – issue 21 May & June 2012. |
||