But you can't shoot pigeons in the middle of towns and they don't destroy the place.
Feral pigeons are not wood pigeons. Feral pigeons do not descend in their thousands on rape, pea and Spring sown crops resulting in up to a 40% loss of yield. But interesting you mention pigeons in the city. Non-destructive control of feral pigeons is all about making it uncomfortable for them via spikes, netting, scare tactics like blank firing or decoy raptors. What does this achieve? The pigeons move on to somewhere else. Somebody else now has a problem. Move them on enough, they will end up roosting on a hospital and see what happens then.
Natural England's new licenses are all about "last resort" shooting of the 13 pest species. If everybody employed tactics to move the pigeons on, you are not solving anything but just moving the problem on to the neighbouring crops.
Even on a typical day they wouldn't get much support on this one. Given the current nature drive they are screwed
. Who are we to decide what lives and what doesn't?
Oh no, a dead bird tied to my gate
- our cat brought back worse. It makes me laugh that our farmers even have time to do this.
Not really. Gove has removed licensing powers from Natural England and their is huge support throughout the countryside to have the "proper" general licenses reinstated.
Was on the moors at weekend.
Got within a few meters of a red grouse to take a pic with dslr.
There is no Sport shooting them. They are sitting ducks obvious easy to kill.
Remember a lot of these people complaining aren't just or even farmers they are land owners who love shooting.
I grew up in farming so see a lot of this on my Facebook.
Corvids are so intelligent. More. So than a dog I think. So they are very able to take advantage of the environment. But they are natural.
Looking after a jackdaw while I had him.. Nothing else like it. Couldn't really call him a pet he was too intelligent. Amazing birds are Corvids. Love them.
I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or not...the fact you got within a few metres of a grouse is no indication of the sporting nature of shooting them. You do not shoot grouse by sneaking up on them. In regards to "easy to kill", there is a reason grouse shooting is the most expensive type of game shooting in the UK, it's the challenge.
I suspect you eat meat or fish...ask yourself how challenging it was to net that fish with trawl net wider than a football pitch or trucking a pig to an abattoir? How challenging or sporting was it for you to buy the meat or fish in a plastic and styrofoam tray?
Same - brilliant birds.
I picked up a magpie that appeared to be rather drunk last summer. It was wobbling around on the pavement and falling on its back. Possibly it had been hit by a car, but it was a quiet road with slow moving vehicles. Moved it to some undergrowth so it was a bit more out of sight to sleep it off.
We get jackdaws in the garden regularly, they fly over from the nearby church tower. And usually a couple of magpies - they're my favourites.
Magpies, Jackdaws and Carrion Crows are pest species. No different to rats. I am not sure a lot of people in this thread actually know how they predate. They are all intelligent, voracious predators that do their job very well and I respect them. I guarantee you that if I shoot a magpie or crow, it met it's end a lot quicker than the Curlew chicks I have seen flayed and eaten alive or the lambs that have had their eyes pecked out over half a day.
This social media mob mentality is getting out of hand. What has any of it got to do with his job with the BBC, or am I missing something?
He is a BBC presenter, a public presenter. He has amassed a very large social media following solely through his employment with the BBC and being in the spotlight and being somewhat of a minor celebrity, has used his position to push a personal agenda. Just the other day, Packham urged his supporters to email, en masse, the Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage over their management policy. This has resulted in the police getting involved due to death threats to the chairman. Again, this is a public presenter and one that should follow the BBC Editorial Guidelines as others do.
Let's say you have an interest in PC gaming, specifically FPS shooters. Julia Hardy starts a movement to have FPS shooters banned and utilises all her resources including contacts she has made during her employment at the BBC and the followers she has gathered, the majority of which have come via the platform the BBC has given her. Would you think that fair?
The lack of predators is our fault again.
Besides when food gets scarce for these animals their population will correct.
And yes it does balance itself. At least when we aren't interfering.
How did the environment manage when we weren't around?
Also I have grown up in a farming environment
For somebody who has grown up in a farming environment, can you explain to me how the scarcity of wood pigeon food would come about? It's only one of two ways...either the pigeons eat all the crops OR the farmers don't plant anything. Which one is best? Their are ~12 to 15 million woodies in the UK, this number has been growing year in, year out...even with the General License that has been in effect for 30 years. Shooting is one of the very few reasons they are held at bay.
Tell me oh enlightened and educated one... do farmers like killing foxes on horseback dressed up in their finery, because it's necessary to control foxes in this way?
Do they like shooting grouse in their thousands - to the point that most of the dead grouse cannot be sold or even given away, and are simply buried en-masse in pits in the ground - because it's necessary to ... erm ... control (farmed) grouse in this way?
Do they oppose literally every re-introduction there has ever been - including beavers, etc - because they are better informed than the environmentalists pushing for their reintroduction? Do they know better than the scientists that culling badgers will help prevent the spread of TB? Scientists don't think it will but farmers keep killing and lobbying to kill more.
Or is it actually the case that farmers are only ever in favour of things that are in their own best (short-term) interests.
Grouse are not farmed and certainly not buried in mass graves. Have you seen what one costs on a plate? They helicopter down to London the first ones shot in the season, such is the demand.
The fact you think it's a majority of farmers who are game shooting and fox hunting on horseback is laughable I'm afraid.
Out of curiosity, do you or anybody else who supports removing the general licenses have issues with people controlling rats by shooting? What do you think of the RSPB shooting over 800 corvids on reserves/estates last year (utilising the general license) to protect vulnerable species?