Madam,

Have readers noticed the increase in numbers of pheasants here in north Ceredigion? I see them everywhere now - dead on the roads, in gardens pecking at the plants, flying out of the hedgerows causing drivers to swerve.

In the past we hardly ever saw a pheasant but, year on year now the numbers are building and it puzzles me.

I could start a business breeding some non-native species, special rabbits for example, and then it seems I would not need to confine them to my own land. Could I let them spread out freely over the countryside, causing nuisance?

And my third question, could an expert in these things tell me if I’m right to worry that the reason I’ve only seen one slow worm and no grass snakes at all this year could be partly due to these same pheasants?

Yours etc,

Victoria Bamford, Eglwysfach.

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