The late and lamented Liverpool football club manager, Bill Shankley, made his famous quote, “Some people think football is a matter of life or death. I assure them it is much more serious than that.” In the present climate of the impending bird flu and avid hunters, (of which I was one many moons ago), one might wish to consider the following instead: “Some people think hunting is a matter of life and death. I assure them it is much more serious than that”. Furthermore, possibly this might just be the time to really put the cat among the pigeons (no pun intended!). How about re-releasing Hitchcock’s famous horror film The Birds, showing seagulls and other birds fighting back against humanity? A sure recipe for mass hysteria. Possibly, but I hope not. Daphne du Maurier, author of The Birds might turn out to be the best of clairvoyants! Finally, looking at the stuffed falcon in my mother-in-law’s house in Germany has now taken a new significance.

Colonel Dr. Raymond Bencini

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