Author Topic: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?  (Read 5587 times)

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #1 on: 05:52:54, 15/05/20 »
Indeed - and it's justified anger.

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richardh1905

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #2 on: 08:54:18, 15/05/20 »
Time that the so called sport of grouse shooting came under some very close public scrutiny.
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WhitstableDave

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #3 on: 09:04:53, 15/05/20 »
Sadly, there are a great many people who take pleasure in killing and maiming animals - whether these be mammals, birds or fish.  >:(
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Jac

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #4 on: 09:51:29, 15/05/20 »
Time that the so called sport of grouse shooting came under some very close public scrutiny.
+1
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April

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #5 on: 20:06:47, 15/05/20 »
Time that the so called sport of grouse shooting came under some very close public scrutiny.

+2
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ninthace

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #6 on: 21:16:08, 15/05/20 »
The difference between "managed" moorland and proper moorland can be seen in the North Pennines where the MoD Warcop range meets the adjoining grouse moors.  Despite their conservation message, the evidence is there for all to see in terms of biodiversity.  Grouse moors are a superficially attractive heather mono-culture punctuated by unsightly shooters' tracks and gin traps all over the place.
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Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #7 on: 08:51:36, 16/05/20 »
The difference between "managed" moorland and proper moorland can be seen in the North Pennines where the MoD Warcop range meets the adjoining grouse moors.  Despite their conservation message, the evidence is there for all to see in terms of biodiversity.  Grouse moors are a superficially attractive heather mono-culture punctuated by unsightly shooters' tracks and gin traps all over the place.
There was controversy in the Cairngorms last year, as gamekeepers were shooting mountain hares to protect the grouse, apparently due to some disease or parasite that might pass on.


Culling deer to protect the environment and the greater good of the herds is one thing. A by-product is excellent venison which is more animal friendly than farmed meat. Breeding grouse and other game birds purely so that someone can enjoy killing them is another thing altogether, particularly with the damage this causes flora and fauna.

richardh1905

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #8 on: 09:31:24, 16/05/20 »
Indeed - culling deer is necessary as they have no natural predators, and an excess of deer degrade the diversity of the environment.


There certainly is a problem with deer numbers - many of those bluebell woods that people have been photographing are under threat from Muntjac Deer, which consider them a delicacy.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jun/10/ruralaffairs.anthonybrowne


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rural roamer

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #9 on: 13:09:42, 16/05/20 »
The bluebell wood that I posted pics of the other day cull the deer. ( we did see some deer across the fields at a distance while we were there. ) This time last year when we were there, there were notices up announcing that they were carrying out a “deer management” programme. I think it’s quite a problem round our way.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #10 on: 14:36:58, 16/05/20 »
Red deer herds in the Cairngorms can be large. I have seen several hundred at a time. There have been some large culls on the estates around Braemar. We get roe deer here in the wooded parks and occasionally in the garden.

ninthace

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #11 on: 15:04:43, 16/05/20 »
In Devon we have a lot of Red Deer and Roe Deer.  My neighbour culls them from time to time and my freezer sometimes benefits accordingly.   A lot of the deer on Exmoor are riddled with TB which is another reason to cull them.  Unfortunately it also makes them inedible.
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WhitstableDave

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #12 on: 15:12:07, 16/05/20 »
It never surprises me in the slightest how quickly anger at killing one type of wildlife turns to the necessity of killing another... and, oh yes, how good the other tastes.  ::)
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richardh1905

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #13 on: 15:32:07, 16/05/20 »
Red deer herds in the Cairngorms can be large. I have seen several hundred at a time. There have been some large culls on the estates around Braemar. We get roe deer here in the wooded parks and occasionally in the garden.


They have been particularly vigorous in controlling the red deer numbers on the Glenfeshie Estate, and the results speak for themselves - massive regeneration of the native woodland. One of the most beautiful, wild and peaceful places that I have visited in Britain.
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ninthace

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Re: An unfortunate side effect of restrictions on walking?
« Reply #14 on: 15:45:58, 16/05/20 »
It never surprises me in the slightest how quickly anger at killing one type of wildlife turns to the necessity of killing another... and, oh yes, how good the other tastes.  ::)
Odd isn't it.  I have never had a problem with people hunting to feed themselves and their families.  Round here shooting is a major industry and it makes for better looking countryside as the woods and hedges provide cover but I remain ambivalent about it.  It is the scale of it that seems wrong as it not for food but for sport.
I have taken part in shoots in France as an unarmed helper but there it was different. The hunt was owned and operated communally by the people of the area rather than as a commercial enterprise.  The number of each species of deer killed (both male and female) was controlled by an annual quota to conserve stocks and everything that was shot was eaten.  Any surplus meat was shared with the people pf the commune. There was no predator control other than for foxes, which were sometimes shot if they became a nuisance, but not many as it meant sitting up all night and you couldn't eat them.  The whole thing was rigorously controlled by the government and the fines for an unauthorised kill were huge.
They had tried introducing pheasants in the past but the foxes eat them all, so it was just deer and wild boar.
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