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Irish singer recounts fox encounter
21 March 2008 Musician Dónal Donohoe has said that foxes are always welcome to his Co Wicklow garden. In his website blog, the singer and guitarist recounts the moment he came face-to-face with one of the creatures and tells of how a fox drops by occasionally to drink from the bird bath! "I was absorbed in what I was doing when I turned around to get something and there he was, the fox," Dónal writes of the winter encounter. "With his redish brown fur, long bushy tail and cat-like eyes, he was no more than three or four feet away from me. He just stood there looking at me expectantly in the hope, I suppose, that I would feed him. My elderly neighbour had told me that while her grandchildren had been staying with her for a few days sometime earlier they had fed the fox by hand a few times. Somehow feeding a wild animal with human food did not seem right, it could make him a little too trusting of people which might not always be in his best interest." "He followed me around for about a half an hour and although it was hard, I resisted giving him any food hoping instead that he would turn his attention to catching one of the many wild rabbits that inhabit these hills. Eventually the fox did go his own way, but over the following days and weeks he has come around many times. Sometimes he would eat some of the apples that were left out for the birds and other times he would drink from the bird bath, but maybe he was just dropping by to say hello in his own foxy way. As far as I am concerned he is always welcome."
Speaking out against foxhunting and other blood sports, Dónal comments that "anyone who would want to inflict pain and cruelty on an animal and experience pleasure in doing so is something that I cannot relate to." "Tradition is often cited as justification for these practices," he adds, "but cannibalism, eating the heart of your enemy to gain the power of his soul and throwing Christians to the lions have also been traditions in this world. Not all traditions are necessarily good or worth keeping." About Dónal Donohoe: Born in Dublin Dónal Donohoe started playing guitar around the age of ten. His early influences included folk music and blues, later embracing the sounds of rock, Latin and jazz music. He went on to develop his own unique and original guitar style. Dónal started playing in small clubs around Dublin, then travelled in Europe before settling down in Denmark for some years. There he lived from his music all the while perfecting his art. Returning to live in Ireland he settled in County Wicklow and began to write songs in Irish for the first time, tracks that were to form the greater part of his second album Ceol’s Rann. Check out Donal's website at www.donaldonohoe.com and listen to some of his songs at www.myspace.com/donaldonohoe His two albums can be downloaded from iTunes and CD Baby or purchased from Road Records, Fade Street, Dublin 2.
More information about blood sports
Bullfighting: Photos, video, leaflet, petition
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