Theyre all gods creatures mate and as for the "Vermin" argument im pretty sure the 2 week old leveritt plucked up by the "protected" bird of prey thinks that said bird is Vermin also.
OK so I work in pest control / wildlife management.
As such kill things for a living.
Where would you draw the line?
In the course of an average year I kill
fleas, nasty little biting buggers,irritating as hell.
Psocids (book lice if you like) eat stuff like the glue on books.
So they eventually fall apart at the seams
Cockroaches, everyone loves a cockroach, especially when their favourite take-away is shut down,
because of hygiene issues.
Wasps, up to 5000 in a successful nest, by the end of the season, they nick food off your BBQ, chew fences for their nests
stingy things too.
Of course no one in their right mind is going in the loft if that's where the nest is.
(Unless fully protected and paid to do so)
And a myriad of other insects / arachnids that cause allergies
and ants that seek out sweet things, and fly to mate by their thousands during the summer.
Its a b****r if the nest happens to be in your house too.
Moving up to the mice that overwinter in your roof space,
chewing wires, scrounging from the kitchen
when you are asleep and urinating as they walk along your work surface in search of crumbs,
to scent mark your house as theirs .
Rats same just a bit big bigger, but do tend to urinate in places rather than spread it about a bit,
Of course Weils disease is only carried by a small percentage,
but who's taking the chance that your "one" isn't affected by it?
Of course grey squirrels, like rats, move into the roof space,
chewing wires water pipes water tanks to get the moisture, rafters and stored goods,
papers, Christmas decorations whatever in your loft to build a nest.
They are only there for the winter normally though.
Rabbits are such an agricultural pest there are
two separate acts for the control of.
Foxes, as mentioned, a lot are becoming urbanised,
and have learned that a rabbit hutch or guinea pig hutch
its just like a take away, very easy to tear the front off.
And a nice warm meal ready to go.
And of course their firm favourite, the domestic chicken.
And thats not to mention the none indigenous species
like Muntjac and Glis Glis, both very destrucive.