On 2013-11-16 18:56:26 +0000, RustyHinge said:

On 16/11/13 18:29, sacha wrote:

That would make sense from what I was hearing at about 4am today. I may
have to sue these birds for avian-induced exhaustion! There was quite a
long call from one of them and then a short call that was almost a
query, if we go into Beatrix Potter land. They're extremely vocal just
now.

Beatrix Potter was an extremely able naturalist, and illustrated
severalbooks - I have a mushroom book (surprise-surprise!) illustrated
by her.

She was indeed an observer of nature and all my children (3) have a
complete set of her books. A problem has arisen as we - not she - have
moved away from being aware that animals are killed to provide food for
humans and young children believe the anthropomorphic view of animals
that she introduced simply as fun. In her day, young children would
have been very aware of animals=food. Ray, who is 80, often saw his
mother drawing a chicken or rabbit for their pot. The chicken would,
for most back then, have been a luxury food. Now, all the majority of
children see, is a tidy piece of something unrecognisable on a
polystyrene tray. In Miss Potter's day, most families would have had a
few rabbits in the back garden ready for the pot, father would have had
a gun to shoot a pigeon or five. The current perception isn't her fault
but the change in how we live.
Now I have to look for that mushroom book. I had no idea it existed!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon