down, stands a chance.

Belly up… doomed.

That’s the old rule-of-thumb we country lads used to apply when finding a bird or animal in trouble.

Sadly, it was the latter condition in which I discovered a carrion crow lying on its back in Worcester’s Cherry Orchard nature reserve wood.

It was in a bad way and obviously on its last legs and so I examined the bird to see if it was wounded.

It was not. So I then agonised what to do.

Leaving it in that distressed state would condemn it to slow torture from ants, its sufferings only coming to an end when fox or badger went out on patrol hours later at dusk.

I despatched it and then felt guiltridden all day. But not half as remorseful as I would have been had I just walked away and left the stricken creature to Nature’s whims, which we know can be very cruel.

ÅI’M quite happy to work as long as my health permits. I’ve always believed that labour should be something that is enjoyed rather than endured, not a view that is particularly prevalent in today’s workplaces.

Of course, if bosses up and down the land could make daily toil more pleasurable, output would undoubtedly increase.

Unfortunately, most people will – with profound apologies to country singer Glenn Campbell – be forever doomed to remain grindstone cowboys.