suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
Reared birds can never be as important as native wild birds and the shooting community really should hang its head in utter shame; https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-64316504.amp
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The ‘shooting’ community guilt
- Thread starter suffolksmallholder
- Start date
- Location
- Essex
Things like this and burying hundreds of pheasants without a market will bring about the end of shooting as we know it.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
While this is very sad and regrettable, one incident should not tarnish the reputation of the whole shooting community any more than one farmer polluting a river should condemn the whole farming community. And I write that as a life time falconer who has bred goshawks in captivity and was actually a BTO ringer.
The RSPB and allied twitchers never mention that approximately 75% of raptors die from natural causes in their first year and about 50% of those that survive will die in their second year. These statistics are from The British Trust for Ornithologies own statistics from ringing returns. (The BTO is closely allied to the RSPB). I wonder how many of these are picked up dead and the death attributed to shooters because no tests are done?
The RSPB and allied twitchers never mention that approximately 75% of raptors die from natural causes in their first year and about 50% of those that survive will die in their second year. These statistics are from The British Trust for Ornithologies own statistics from ringing returns. (The BTO is closely allied to the RSPB). I wonder how many of these are picked up dead and the death attributed to shooters because no tests are done?
- Location
- Essex
It's not a one off incident though is it? The news is full of gamekeepers being prosecuted for this type of crime.
The birds in question were found in a heap, x-rayed and found to have been shot. Look at the picture.
Shooting and hunting sheds a bad light on the countryside, it portrays farmers as cruel people in the eyes of the general public.
Other then shooting predators such as foxes, there is no reason for activities such as bird shooting to take place in the modern world, where everyone and anyone has a camera to record instances of animal cruelty which will inevitably burden farmers further, with more regulations and restrictions.
Other then shooting predators such as foxes, there is no reason for activities such as bird shooting to take place in the modern world, where everyone and anyone has a camera to record instances of animal cruelty which will inevitably burden farmers further, with more regulations and restrictions.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
"Full of gamekeepers"?
Show me.
And five is not exactly a heap...though I suppose if you balanced them carefully they might make a stack.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Now if it was two or three goshawks being found dead each week for months then that might be a different matter....
news.sky.com
Met Police says two to three officers will face charges every week for months
Sir Mark Rowley was speaking at the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee.
news.sky.com
- Location
- Essex
Not the point really. I'm afraid it's driven by the need to shoot lots of birds for money."Full of gamekeepers"?
Show me.
And five is not exactly a heap...though I suppose if you balanced them carefully they might make a stack.
I think it's a real shame and it shows a lack of understanding of nature. Anyone reading this should know that goshawks prey on sparrowhawks, which get blamed for the lack of songbirds.
I just googled "gamekeeper found guilty" and there's a fair bit to look at.
Pieces_of_Eight
Member
Why would anyone dump 5 dead goshawks in a pile in a public car park?
The only reason I can think is so they could be found. If you wanted to conceal a crime you would burn or bury them.
Anyone convicted of raptor persecution needs to face the full force of the law, which should include much stiffer penalties. This should include revoking certificates where people have them or making people ineligible if they don't. Convicted individuals should also be publicly booted out of whichever clubs/societies/associations they are members of and these organisations should publish a list of expelled members.
The only reason I can think is so they could be found. If you wanted to conceal a crime you would burn or bury them.
Anyone convicted of raptor persecution needs to face the full force of the law, which should include much stiffer penalties. This should include revoking certificates where people have them or making people ineligible if they don't. Convicted individuals should also be publicly booted out of whichever clubs/societies/associations they are members of and these organisations should publish a list of expelled members.
- Location
- DD9.
There’s something in what you say. About 5 yrs ago in June/July I had a visit from the local wildlife officer investigating a dead buzzard. A cyclist had reported it.
Asked the officer where it was found and it had been “happened across” approx 50yds into a field of barley (at its full height) after the rider had wandered into the field following an interesting butterfly, at approx 6am.
Sounded like the biggest load of shite ever, and coincidentally came at the same time as a new syndicate had taken on the shooting in the neighbouring woods and had fallen out with a lot of dog walkers.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
I think they are banned from owning guns already. Without guns, they will certainly lose their jobs and houses too. That would suggest that they are under severe pressure to take the risk.
What I object to is the sensationalisation. I hear no outcry on this forum about shooting starlings eating cattle food or sh*tting on the backs of livestock, nor any protests against the suggestion of shooting ravens that are removing the eyes of sheep.
Now if you want to sensationalise the rowdy behaviour of footballers, especially those providing an example of British people to our friends abroad, I am with you all the way! Get it banned!
"All things in moderation". If gamekeepers had another way of protecting their birds from a family of marauding goshawks, perhaps the RSPB could let us know. (Don't forget, 3 of those 5 goshawks will probably die of natural causes in the next 12 months anyway). Or protecting the beef farmer from swarms of voracious starlings while they are at it.
Hmmmm
Sounds similar to a case near here, where an individual just happend to be wandering across a field and just happened to come across a dead Buzzard.
The rather trite local Facebook type page was full of shite about how it "must have been shot" because a local shoot had been near the spot a few days before.... The individual who started the thread is a known anti, I am informed! What a surprise....
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Sadly nowadays "Innocent until proven guilty" seems to have taken a significant back seat.
- Location
- South wales
Publish the article worry about facts and investigating later
Just like social media really..... Truth and the full story, are optional.
- Location
- Carmarthenshire, West Wales
Also I fairly regularly find Red Kites dead under the Wind Turbines, does that mean it's the end of the renewable energy sector as we know it? I think not!
this sounds bloody odd to me if you were going to commit a crime survey you'd conceal it not put it on public display
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Wilksy
Member
- Location
- East Riding
Something doesn’t seem right with this case, I know there are cases of raptor persecution, I’m not going to pretend they’re all staged to undermine game shooting, but it would take some time and effort to shoot one, never mind five, when they are so hard to spot, even says the best chance to see one is in winter performing courtship high up
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