The Survival of Reynard: Perhaps We Are All Blind in a Natural World

By Nigel John Pearcey

Reynard is no ordinary red fox. He had learned his survival skills through things that happened in the very early days at the beginning of his life in the wild in a protected environment, "although he did not know it".

• Language: English
• Publisher: 2wowu Books
• Release date: Jul 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781805410362

Nigel John Pearcey

Born in 1951 in a tiny village in the Cotswolds surrounded by a colossal farming community consisting of Dairy and Arable farming, I learned all farming skills from an early age until 1970 when I joined the armed services in the RAOC.After leaving the armed forces years later I started my own business renovating and repairing belt-driven vehicles both DAF and Volvo for 13 years until the work dried up.I then worked as a factory manager for a plastic extrusion company, extruding profiles for the windows and doors industry until 2013, and I lost my eyesight due to blood filling both of my eyes and destroying both retinae, rendering me completely blind.I then retired and took on new skills of writing by sound and began writing books, which helped me immensely in my retirement years.

Book preview

Prefix and Introduction

I initially began writing this book as a learning curve into writing again after suddenly becoming blind at 64 years.

As you may imagine, I found that losing my eyesight as suddenly as I did was initially devastating at the time. But then I began learning to touch type and accidentally wrote this story.

I say by accident because I began learning to type again using both hands. The first sentence to learn was THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG.

The above sentence is used by learners because it uses all 26 letters of the alphabet.

I repeated the sentence every day until I fixed in my head the position of all 26 letters of the alphabet and moved more confidently on to writing other sentences.

It may seem a simple task for today’s youngsters. Still, you have to visualize that I grew up without computers, so I never learned about things like the qwerty keyboard because, after all, nothing like this was around in my school days. It began to take on a more recognizable form in 1990 when computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, invented the World Wide Web.

Instead, I did what thousands of people did in my era: I used one-finger typing to overcome this new phenomenon. I never learned how to simultaneously touch-type with both hands, which may seem crazy, but it made simple sense at the time.

I needed to expand the sentence into a paragraph, a proper learning curve, and so on. It is precisely how this book began to appear.

A natural learning curve means the more I typed, the more I learned and the better I got at it.

So I continued to put together this story using factual items and a fictional fox.

I needed to use my imagination, backed up by some simple facts I knew during my childhood.

And I was also using the world wide web to get facts relating to information I wanted to write down in my story.

I owe the gift of touch typing to an organization called UK BLIND VETERANS, formerly Saint Dunston’s.

They were established in 1915; it was initially to help people blinded at war while fighting for their freedom, and the release of everyone worldwide.

Since then, it has evolved to help all ex-servicemen and women overcome going blind, no matter what caused it.

I find it strange that I have learned to do this in their centenary year; I will never be able to thank them enough for what they have done for me.

And things they continue to do for me.

It was not only the practical side of things.

The kindness and support from all the staff taught me how to overcome the shock of losing my eyesight.

They made sure I could live my life mentally and physically in the most productive way possible.

I grew up in a tiny village surrounded by farms and wildlife that I understood very well as a child, And was taught to use hunting methods, including shotguns, responsibly as a child,

which later helped me go hunting and led me to respect wildlife and help wildlife proliferate and survive alongside the human race.

Sadly, our children’s tuition today is lacking in this respect and. unfortunately, many children will never experience wildlife as I once knew it.

I spent endless hours fishing, shooting, ferreting, collecting rosehips, or just walking in the countryside.

On many occasions, I came across abandoned owl chicks, baby rabbits, and much more.

I would gather them up, take them home, and feed them until they were strong enough to survive in the wild on their own, so I had that knowledge to compile this story.

I must also point out that I am not unique in going blind, as thousands like me will testify. Still, it is just a fact of life as we know it, and I am sure human endeavour and science will eventually overcome it, but for now, we have learned to live with it.

Nonetheless it was devastating at the age of 64; many who are not blind do not understand that devastation.

I hope I can be an inspiration to those who are blind.

I often go out walking alone in the countryside around my home. I also help with cooking and cleaning, take lots of journeys on public transport, and prefer to do most things with sheer determination and will for myself.

As with any disability, allowing others to help and dictate everything you do and how you want to do it is effortless.

But this can destroy your independence and will to continue, and thus ruin your will to live.

No matter what a person decides to do in life, it is essential to that person, and they must be allowed to do it to their fullest extent and gain full respect for doing so.

Just remember, it’s not the end of anything, just the beginning of achieving everything differently, so I can no longer put toothpaste on my toothbrush. Still, I can put it on my teeth first, then brush them.

Hence, it is all elementary and shows that we can all be more resourceful in coping with any situation.

I sincerely hope that everyone who reads this can draw inspiration from it and also, enjoy the story.

I suppose my message to everyone is whether you are disabled somehow or not, you can consistently achieve anything you want to in life if you concentrate your efforts on what you want to achieve without compromise. It’s your life, so go out and live it, and do not waste what we all know to be precious.

Before you read this book, I want to point out that many wild foxes have moved into our towns and cities.

A great deal of this movement is mainly due to the interference of humans, both direct and indirect.

Firstly, in the 1950s and ‘60s, farms converted to arable farming to conform with the common market, later known as the European Union, meaning the hedgerows were removed, and ditches were replaced by land drains. Ponds were also filled in, which resulted in a massive reduction of habitat for ducks, pheasants, rabbits, mice, voles, stoats, squirrels, and woodpeckers.

The fact is there was a habitat loss for all wildlife in the UK, including our foxes. Our government brought it to bear at the stroke of a pen at the time.

And as if one massive mistake was not enough, after making the situation that foxes had few places to live and survive, they forgot to ban fox hunting until many years later.

This may sound a little cynical, But still, I once thought we elected intelligent people to run our country.

It is sufficient to say that you can see what happened to a fictional fox I named Reynard in this story.

It is worth noting that the delay in banning fox hunting was proliferated by rich and powerful people continually lobbying government departments to keep it going.

Wealthy people can often seat themselves into positions of power and privilege. It has often been the way for many generations. Still, in the end, the people’s will does overcome these things through negotiation and arbitration.

But this does not necessarily mean that they are the most intelligent people. My story is about a fictional fox and how he tries to live out his life in the wild.

But it is also about reality, as I have seen it during my lifetime growing up living and working in the United Kingdom.

Thousands of people in my age group witnessed the changes to our country and way of living at many different times.

2020 saw us leaving the European Union, thus starting the removal of the laws of stupidity imposed by foreign governments and putting control back into the hands of the British people.

Many things have affected our wildlife here in the United Kingdom, and it is widely believed that we are an animal-loving nation. Still, as I look back over my lifetime, I find many contradictions to this line of thought.

Over previous years I have seen control of animals dictated by money and power in our country’s more decadent hierarchy.

That may seem like I am an anarchist, but nothing could be further from the truth. I express my opinion like thousands of others who have gone before me.

For example, the Norman people farmed RABBITS in the UK around 600 years ago. It was a food source, but only for the rich hierarchy who could afford it.

Ordinary people faced terrible consequences if caught with a rabbit in their possession. Even as late as the 1800s, the law persisted.

There are cases of people being transported to Australia for several years in penal colonies just for being found with a rabbit.

In 1915 the human race dreamt up a disease called Myxomatosis. It was introduced into Australia to control a growing rabbit population that had grown into millions and devastated the grasslands they wanted for their sheep.

The species wreaked havoc on Australia’s native plants and animals. Still, in less than three months, Myxomatosis had spread 2,000 km and killed 99% of infected animals.

In 1952 the virus was found in France, and in 1953 it reached the UK leading to similarly devastating results in both countries.

In 1953 the rabbit’s