LETTERS

RACCOON DOG

I must challenge the rather benign view of the raccoon dog given by my old friend David Tomlinson (Sporting answers — Game beyond our shores, 19 August).

David is right that they seem to have found a niche that does not compete with other native carnivores, but this does not mean they are having no impact on their prey, which very much includes nesting birds. Since they are wetland animals, colleagues in Finland, in particular, are worried about their impact on nesting duck and geese, and I fear that they are a real threat to our wintering wildfowl when back on the breeding grounds.

I also worry that