Why oh Why?

[fallen-archie]

As you know I love wildlife and particularly our rich and diverse collection of birds, each of whom have a place in the delicate balance that exists in our overpopulated world. Last year I was fortunate enough to see close to where I live Two of our rarest birds of prey, firstly a pair of Goshawks and then a pair of Hen Harriers both of which were once common on or hills and dales but which today are persecuted to almost extinction. Several of those who successfully fledged in 2016 have been satellite tagged to track their movement and progress and to understand more about the birds habit and requirements, Sadly one by one they are disappearing often on sporting estates where driven grouse are the order of the day and where ignorant gamekeepers and in some cases landowners cannot abide the presence of a predator on their patch. Far be it from me to suggest that they and they alone  are responsible for the decline in raptors however an awful lot do disappear suddenly whilst known to be on large shooting estates. Not surprisingly there are the usual anti bloodsports brigade baying for blood egged on by the loony left who just seek anarchy, however this is  a problem that requires a solution which allows the predator and the predated to co-exist without fear of persecution. 

The cost to take part in a grouse shoot at one Yorkshire estate range from £35 per bird to £43 per bird and a large shoot can charge £33,000 per day. Potential revenue from let shooting is £120 per brace (a brace, in hunting, is two birds) with an average of 150 brace shot per day. So with birds dying at such a rate that leaves the Poor old Raptor persecuted for the sake of one or two irds a day max when one consides the other types of food avaiabe to it I think that is quite generous, With such high numbers of grouse being shot and the difficult and challenging nature of grouse shooting it beggars belief that this conflict has been alowed by government and the various organisations to fester and allowed to become an activists platform. What does one need to do to preserve the rural way of life and the future of our wonderful Raptors?

Footnote,

One survivor of 2016 is called DEECEE which I found amusing all were given names and there progress can be tracked just by googleing the name.  

[cee-dee]

Well now, it's very difficult to pin down exactly who or what is killing the birds.

Yes, some gamekeepers shoot or poison, gambling that they're never going to be caught but estates have often given instructions that they're not to kill protected birds.

With Grouse, it's difficult as numbers are at the mercy of the weather conditions affecting their food and the Heather. With Pheasants, estates rear them in large numbers and they often prefer to take the hit from hawks of all sorts rather than risk unwanted attention generated by killing such birds.

I don't know what the answer is except that it would greatly help if estates would instruct keepers not to kill protected birds of prey under threat of dismissal if found doing that.

Estates often allow "helpers" to assist in controlling vermin and they're often less disciplined than the keepers.

Also, some shoots don't have full time keepers and rely on shoot members to "do the keepering". There's often people allowed to shoot vermin along with the ferreters and the air gunners.

Grouse are in less populated (often remote) areas so there's more chance of illegal activity going unnoticed. I think the best that can be done is to contact all estates and shoot organisers particularly those where it's known that a bird's "gone missing".

[joe_bloggs*]

Grouse are wild birds, but cosseted at the expense of other life forms. Predators and competitors must be eliminated, either legally or, in the case of protected species such as peregrine falcons, golden eagles, red kites and hen harriers, illegally.

Many grouse moors are black holes for birds of prey. They disappear and their satellite tags stop working in the same places, again and again. Alien abduction? Russian black ops? No: shooting, trapping and poisoning by the gamekeepers employed to maximise grouse numbers, most of whom, on these remote moors, get away with it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/16/grouse-shooters-kill-first-casualty-is-truth-a...

[cee-dee]

I wonder what the Grouse population would be like if the Grouse Moors were allowed to "run wild"?

Managed Moors burn the Heather to promote new growth but it's not burned willy-nilly. You can burn against the wind for a deep burn or burn with the wind for a light burn. A light burn done regularly promotes all growth, not just the Heather. The whole Moor isn't burned in one go, one season, it's done a bit at a time so there's a mixture of growth of all species on the Moor. Then there's the feed etc left for the Grouse which has medication in it to combat diseases.

The Grouse shooting season is short and the Grouse are not shot to annhilation.

Both Grouse shooting and Pheasant shooting attract criticism from the jealous factions and what's not realised is that without estates in the past managing woodlands for such shooting, there'd be very few woodlands left today.