Oscar Wilde once ridiculed the fox-hunting Englishman as "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable."

A cover story in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal has given Wilde's quip a new twist.

Two years ago, under pressure from animal rights activists, Parliament outlawed the traditional English fox hunt. I recall the furious protests at the time from the country folk, who insisted that city dwellers couldn't appreciate that foxes were awful pests.

Well, if they couldn't then, they can now. According to the Journal article, there are now approximately 10,000 foxes living in the London area, even in the heart of the city.

The bushy-tailed intruders raid garbage pails, dig up gardens, gnaw through television cables and terrorize household pets.

In retalliation, Londoners are arming themselves with water jets, pepper sprays and traps. But so far, they have been unable to keep the clever critters at bay for long.

One Londoner has suggested a stronger measure: ban fox hunting in the country, but allow it in the towns.

If Parliament pays heed to this tongue-in-cheek advice, the English fox hunt may return in a new form. Instead of scarlet-coated equestrians leaping over hedges to the sound of hunting horns, we may see bowler-hatted bankers and solicitors flailing away with their umbrellas at the despoilers of their flower beds -- the unspeakable once again in full pursuit of the uneatable.