Rabbits' Revenge

We were all worrying about the wrong type of flu, it turns out.

There we were all worrying about bird flu and now someone's just died from rabbit flu, which none of us had heard of, let alone worried about.

John Freedman, a 29-year-old farmer, died from septicaemia after being infected with the bacterium Pasteurella multocida: the first time the bacterium had been fatally transmitted from rabbit to human.

Sad story.

Then I learned that Mr Freedman caught the virus after carrying a rabbit he had shot.

My total sympathy continued: I'm not vegetarian and I do appreciate, just about, that sometimes it might be necessary to shoot animals when their numbers are too great.

But then I read this, from his mother, summing up her son's character:

"John had a ready smile and a quick wit. He gave up rugby so he could spend more time shooting. He simply loved getting out in the countryside with his gun."

I'm not saying anything more on the subject.