Not Far From a East Coast Foreshore of Ours.

[under the moon]

Gentlemen Good Afternoon,

 

With the approval of the Dutch programme by Brussels for the culling of grey geese, you can understand the wider political and monetary issues by Natural England in regard to the General Licence rejection of the Greylag., You may consider this to be a necessary cull by the Dutch, let's say similar to culling of Badgers in the south west or the reduction of Canada Geese on the GL.

 

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/05/brussels-clears-way-for-geese-to-be-gassed-throughout-the-netherlands/

 

 

http://www.animalrights.nl/en/article/2015/05/netherlands-geese-country

 

How will this effect other Siberian anser species on their migratory flight lanes, through Holland and Belgium, caught up in this large scale extermination programme.

 

From a local point of view when the weather is hard I am aware of a influx of Greys boosting the local population to our estuary, I can not prove it, but I am sure from the low countries.

 

thanks for your patience.

Under the Moon.

 

 

[anser2]

I suspect to thrust of the Dutch cull will to reduce feral greylag and canadas. Goose shooting was banned in Holland years ago ( except for crop protection ) and now they are paying the price with goose populations out of control. We are under risk of a simlar thing happening here in the UK and there have been already attempts to put greylag on the pest list. The fowling community has a choice carry on as we are with many clubs having bag limits or see greylag being put on the pest list and a valued quarry species decimated by so called pest controllers. At the moment the answer is in our hands , we need to be killing more geese to try and check the population or the matter will be taken out of our hands as it has been with canadas. Nobody wants to see excessive bags of geese taken in season , but I would urge clubs to look closely at their bag limits and rase them to allow their members to take a few more birds if they want to. The limit for most clubs is 6 geese , but many clubs have a much lower limit. I would they start looking at a limit of around 10 birds and see what happens.

 

If we fail to disfuse the greylag problem then you can be sure that in the future we will see them go on the pest list or a major quarry will decline to the loss of the fowling community.

Edited June 28, 2015 by anser2

[wildfowler.250]

I suspect to thrust of the Dutch cull will to reduce feral greylag and canadas. Goose shooting was banned in Holland years ago ( except for crop protection ) and now they are paying the price with goose populations out of control. We are under risk of a simlar thing happening here in the UK and there have been already attempts to put greylag on the pest list. The fowling community has a choice carry on as we are with many clubs having bag limits or see greylag being put on the pest list and a valued quarry species decimated by so called pest controllers. At the moment the answer is in our hands , we need to be killing more geese to try and check the population or the matter will be taken out of our hands as it has been with canadas. Nobody wants to see excessive bags of geese taken in season , but I would urge clubs to look closely at their bag limits and rase them to allow their members to take a few more birds if they want to. The limit for most clubs is 6 geese , but many clubs have a much lower limit. I would they start looking at a limit of around 10 birds and see what happens.

 

If we fail to disfuse the greylag problem then you can be sure that in the future we will see them go on the pest list or a major quarry will decline to the loss of the fowling community.

 

It's a tricky one. Larger bags take the enjoyment out of it. It is more work cleaning the birds and you get sick of eating them. However I would also hate for them to go down the pest control route. There's nothing worse than birds getting shot and going to waste but I feel that could happen with either increased bag limits or Greylags going on the general licence.

 

You've also got to wonder how big a difference increasing a bag limit from say 6 to 10 would actually make on the general population. Out of season control,(eg destroying eggs) would have a much more significant,(desired?) effect.

Edited June 29, 2015 by wildfowler.250

[anser2]

Egg pricking is effective in the short term and localy , but the greylag quickly learn what is going on and nest elsewhere. When it was done on a local gravel pit reserve after a couple of years most of the geeese switched to nesting on tiny ponds in woodland a mile or two away , but then brought their young back to the reserve once hatched. The woodland ponds were hard to access so it was allmost impossable to continue egg pricking. The answer was an organised goose shoot in season twice a year, not my favoured way of goose shooting , but a better form of control than egg pricking or destruction of flightless adults. Around 70-100 greylag were shot each year between 25 guns so not exactly a slaughter , but it was enough to keep the local population in check.

 

As for disposing of the shot birds , I have never found any trouble giving them away to friends .

 

Once on the pest list the majority of birds will be killed out of season as while nesting\moulting the birds are in poor condition to be worth eating. We are going to face a simple choice shoot more greylag or have them going on the pest list is the near future. As a wildfowler I know what I would rather see.

 

The Broads is a National Park and the Broads Authority wants a county wide cull of greys. If that ever gets off the ground then they will cease to be a major sporting quarry in the area.

Edited June 29, 2015 by anser2

[wildfowler.250]

Egg pricking is effective in the short term and localy , but the greylag quickly learn what is going on and nest elsewhere. When it was done on a local gravel pit reserve after a couple of years most of the geeese switched to nesting on tiny ponds in woodland a mile or two away , but then brought their young back to the reserve once hatched. The woodland ponds were hard to access so it was allmost impossable to continue egg pricking. The answer was an organised goose shoot in season twice a year, not my favoured way of goose shooting , but a better form of control than egg pricking or destruction of flightless adults. Around 70-100 greylag were shot each year between 25 guns so not exactly a slaughter , but it was enough to keep the local population in check.

 

As for disposing of the shot birds , I have never found any trouble giving them away to friends .

 

Once on the pest list the majority of birds will be killed out of season as while nesting\moulting the birds are in poor condition to be worth eating. We are going to face a simple choice shoot more greylag or have them going on the pest list is the near future. As a wildfowler I know what I would rather see.

 

The Broads is a National Park and the Broads Authority wants a county wide cull of greys. If that ever gets off the ground then they will cease to be a major sporting quarry in the area.

Interesting to read

[kent]

I fully agree with higher bag limits were the population allows it, the issue is its very much in the hands of people who have strived for years to get the population up and changing the habits of a lifetime is hard. I don't honestly want to shoot more than a brace a flight because of the work carrying off a pair but perhaps in some areas I will extend the part of the season I target geese specifically.

The Dutch were moronic in restricting their shooters but only a politician or other breed of fool thinks mass gassing and shooting breeding birds with dependant young is ok and yet killing for sport and food is cruel

I do expect the greylag issue to rear its head again and we should be formulating a plan across the whole country within the clubs now because if we don't sooner or later we will loose

[muncher]

I suspect to thrust of the Dutch cull will to reduce feral greylag and canadas. Goose shooting was banned in Holland years ago ( except for crop protection ) and now they are paying the price with goose populations out of control. We are under risk of a simlar thing happening here in the UK and there have been already attempts to put greylag on the pest list. The fowling community has a choice carry on as we are with many clubs having bag limits or see greylag being put on the pest list and a valued quarry species decimated by so called pest controllers. At the moment the answer is in our hands , we need to be killing more geese to try and check the population or the matter will be taken out of our hands as it has been with canadas. Nobody wants to see excessive bags of geese taken in season , but I would urge clubs to look closely at their bag limits and rase them to allow their members to take a few more birds if they want to. The limit for most clubs is 6 geese , but many clubs have a much lower limit. I would they start looking at a limit of around 10 birds and see what happens.

 

If we fail to disfuse the greylag problem then you can be sure that in the future we will see them go on the pest list or a major quarry will decline to the loss of the fowling community.

I Agree that clubs need to increase there bag limits on greys but I fear that some clubs will wake up to late.

[wildfowler.250]

Is there somewhere online that shows you the number of wintering greylags over the last 10-20 years?

[m greeny]

I Agree that clubs need to increase there bag limits on greys but I fear that some clubs will wake up to late.

I wish we had the same problem around us but unfortunatly we do not get a lot of greys or canadas for that matter

[anser2]

Wildfowl acounts are available on the BTO web site.