Share your views and opinions by writing to us at: <\/strong>Have your say: BBC Countryfile Magazine, <\/em>Eagle House, Bristol BS1 4ST; or email editor@countryfile.com<\/a>, <\/strong>tweet us @CountryfileMag <\/a><\/strong>or via Facebook facebook.com\/countryfilemagazine<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n SOUNDS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n letter of the month <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n *We reserve the right to edit correspondence<\/p>\n\n\n\n I enjoy listening to the BBC <\/em>Countryfile<\/em> Magazine <\/em>Plodcast while I work in various private gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been meaning to send this sound in for some time. I stuck my head out of the door on Christmas Eve morning, as I could hear the sound through our kitchen window. We had at that point (we\u2019ve since moved) a scrubby corridor between our property and the neighbours at the foot of our garden and adjoining us. We often had a family of foxes passing through the bottom of our garden or even playing in it. One year, there were five cubs and two adults, including a couple of cubs we reckoned were twins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sound emanating from next door is rather distressing; we thought it was a fox but could it have been a hedgehog? I\u2019ve only seen a hedgehog twice in the garden. Once when I slept in my bivvi bag and was woken by a sound at 3am and I watched it run across the lawn. The other was seen last year when we camped as a family in the garden. My youngest son and I were looking through his telescope at the stars when we heard a sound and saw one walking around the garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rob Marshall, Guildford<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor Fergus Collins replies:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you so much for this. You can hear this recording at the end of Plodcast episode 137 (season 11, episode six): pod.fo\/e\/10e25e<\/a>. We love to receive audio from the countryside that we can include in the Plodcast \u2013 anything from birdsong to waterfalls to eerie fox noises such as these. Please send recordings to editor@countryfile.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n THE PRIZE: <\/strong>This month\u2019s star letter wins an Osprey Sportlite 25-litre daypack, worth \u00a390. The new Sportlite is designed for walkers and outdoor adventurers and features the AirScape\u2122 backpanel for ventilation and comfort, plus mesh side bottle-pockets. Sportlite combines high-performance features with durable, recycled and sustainable fabrics. ospreyeurope.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n HEARTBREAKING CRUELTY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n The Panorama <\/em>programme that aired on BBC One on 14 February about intensive dairy farming brought me to tears. My partner and I were shocked at the treatment of the cows and their calves.<\/p>\n\n I had only just read Adam Henson\u2019s article in your magazine celebrating the motherly love of British cattle. We had no idea some dairy farms kicked and dragged the cows if they slipped in the milking pens, amongst other ill treatment.<\/p>\n\n I would gladly pay more for my milk; I usually buy it from the supermarket but not any more, if it comes from one of these intensive farms. To have their calves taken away just after giving birth, trying to lick the calf clean while it is being wheelbarrowed away, then seeing the mother calling to it \u2013 it\u2019s so cruel.<\/p>\n\n It was a hard watch and something that will always stay with me. <\/p>\n\n Lena <\/strong>Belfield, <\/strong>via <\/strong>email <\/strong><\/p>\n\n PERFECT PLODCASTS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Thank you all so much for your first Plodcast of the season \u2013 it was joyous! Your walk in Somerset\u2019s Steart Marshes with Ben Hoare was a winter tonic and was full of all the wonderful elements we have come to expect from your Plodcasts.<\/span><\/p>\n\n I especially loved hearing the curlew calls \u2013a truly haunting and hopeful sound \u2013 and it was heartening to hear how many of these you sighted, together with the lapwings and redshanks.<\/p>\n\n We were also treated to the whoosh of dunlin wings in a murmuration. Is there any chance we could have a Sound Escape of this at some point? Thank you so much, Hannah Tribe, for keeping the Sound Escapes going \u2013 they are always a treat.<\/p>\n\n Fergus, you ask for ideas for new Plodcasts and, although I always enjoy all your guests, I still love the ones where you are walking in the countryside that you love, describing the scenery and the nature surrounding you. You are a gentle, thoughtful and informative companion on my own urban walks and transport me to a world away from the issues of the day. <\/span><\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/043ba156-779a-4862-b338-3d8c0f0efc6f.jpg\")
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