Nature red in tooth and claw – and in beak

A mistle thrush has arrived and taken control of my orchard garden which has three seed feeders 15 yards apart, and will not let any birds feed on its patch, which is normal behaviour for this thrush with a "rattling" call.

Until it arrived I had about 20 birds in my garden; now I have virtually none, with the thrush being unable to eat off the feeders.

In the bird world the sparrowhawk is the hit man, and if it makes a kill, it then leaves the garden; whereas the mistle thrush is the bully boy who may starve birds to death.

There is no love lost between birds in the garden and they may tolerate each other, but the most powerful beak rules – OK.

No doubt, human beings will react in a similar way if governments allow populations of their countries to increase until they outgrow the world food supply.

From: Linton Gaunt, Snape, Bedale, North Yorkshire.

From: Robert D Ambler, Crown Yard, Elland.

With reference to the recent letters extolling the virtues of tripe, I recall, as a boy, regularly walking from Huddersfield town centre to Leeds Road, via Great Northern Street, to watch Huddersfield Town play. Painted in six feet high letters on the gable end of a now demolished terrace house were the words: "Make Simpson feel like Sampson – eat Gothards Tripe".

It was a reference to a long-gone town tripe dressers and proof, if it were needed, of the miracle qualities of a cow's bits.

From: David J Summerson, Wheathouse Road, Birkby, Huddersfield.

AS a regular reader of Country Week I have found it so uplifting to read articles of village stores, farm shops etc, not only surviving but prospering against the massive tide of the supermarket "barons" piecemeal wipeout and overriding the small retailer.

I live alone and am in my fifties. For a good number of years I was guilty of supermarket shopping for at least 95 per cent of my food purchases. By chance, I found a local shop selling free range eggs at about 40 per cent less than any of the local supermarkets.

I then went to the local open market where I bought excellent fruit and vegetables. I now purchase at the same stall weekly.

I take the time to visit farmers' markets, farm shops, etc whenever I can for top quality meats, cheeses, etc.

I feel a lot of people, if they were to follow my example, would benefit immensely while at the same time sustaining local businesses.

I can remember the days of vans regularly going around suburbs and rural areas selling bread, cakes etc and greengrocery vans with assorted other items; they don't seem to be around any longer, it's

a shame.

Maybe Government intervention to help protect independent retailers would help.

The same could be said of the village pub which along with corner shops for many generations formed the hub of communities.

From: Bill North, Oakfield, Headingley Lane, Leeds.

I HOPE Sarah Todd will find this information useful.

Merry Thought is the furcula, a forked bone found in the breast of poultry.

More commonly known as the wishing bone, it is a hindrance when carving so I prefer to remove it before roasting.

From: Roy Pickard, Viking Avenue, Emley, Huddersfield.

I CAN well understand Sarah Todd's reluctance to try meat other than the usual pork, beef or lamb (Country Week, January 16), but I can assure her that cuts of meat from a great many other animals taste equally as tender and succulent.

Some years ago in a restaurant in Kathmandu (Nepal) I was talked into trying Yak steak with my main meal. It was absolutely delicious – actually on a par with fillet steak.

Another time, the year previous, 1997, while travelling on the Blue Train from Cape Town to Pretoria, I was tempted into ordering Wildebeest steak as the meat for my main meal. I thought if it's good enough for crocs and lions then it should be OK! Once again, there was no disappointment – the meat tasted fantastic.

So I say, go on Sarah, try something different now and again.