perhaps the foxes of the neighbourhood were every part as wily as their reputation suggested , and had forsaken the groves and hedgerows of hurlevor for the far more enticing luxuries of the dustbins and rubbish tips of the city ; or perhaps the wildlife in the area was generally depleted by the farmers use of badger-poisons and pesticides ; whatever it was , the result was the same , that mr. bull was at a loss to find anything to hunt , though the horses and hounds were as primed as could be .