Ooooh Charmion, apple goes so well with pheasant doesn't it? I have a recipe for pheasant-and-apple casserole, with a drop of cider in.

Just after the war, most people kept a few chickens, and my mother used to kill, pluck and draw the older birds for the pot. I never felt squeamish, and enjoyed helping her. Pigeons are fiddly, but worth it.
You're correct, one has to be careful not to burst the intestines, but draw them out gently, or the meat is contaminated. Also, if the rabbit/bird has been shot, one has to get all the shot pellets out.

I think foxes have become incredibly successful over the past decade or so. They adapt well to urban living. Here, they root about in bins and, so I've heard, get a bit vicious with humans. But they control rats (and rabbits!) and mice.