dodger

Nothing to apologise for ernyha.

COYPU South American water rodent Myocastor coypus, about 60 cm/2 ft long and weighing up to 9 kg/20 lb. It has a scaly, ratlike tail, webbed hind feet, a blunt-muzzled head, and large orange incisors. The fur (‘nutria’) is reddish brown. It feeds on vegetation, and lives in burrows in rivers and lake banks. Taken to Europe and then to North America to be farmed for their fur, many escaped or were released. In Britain, coypus escaped from fur farms and became established on the Norfolk Broads where their adult numbers reached 5,000. They destroyed crops and local vegetation, and undermined banks and dykes. After a ten-year campaign they were eradicated in 1989 at a cost of over £2 million. In 1993 escaped coypu in Louisiana, USA, were causing serious damage to coastal marshland. The above passage is from the online Tiscali encyclopedia. There were other minor populations in the country and if I remember correctly the last one recorded in this country was found in the Reading area having been run over. As for antis releasing Mink - Yes they are breaking the law but I dont expect they have to answer in court for that any more than they do for the criminal damage breaking into the farms in the first place. :<

Here it is: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countrysi...mal.htm#release <<Please note that it is an offence under section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) to release or allow to escape into the wild grey squirrels, mink and coypu without a licence (click here for details).>>

I'm not sure that is strictly true. If it were I expect the RSPCA would not be too keen to be seen breaking the law on prime time tv. Grey squirrels as an introduced species do come under this ruling though. I dont know what others are affected. I will find out.

If I remember correctly he said they were ok. Plenty of salt in the water he boiled them up in.

There is a bit of an anomoly with crayfish. It is illegal to trap them without a licence BUT if you catch one whilst fishing it is illegal to throw it back. This is because it is illegal to release non native species into the wild. The same is true of grey squirrels. It is illegal to release them back into the wild. Any that are taken to animal hospitals with injuries cannot be released without breaking the law. If you get the chance ask the RSPCA what they do with any that are taken to them. On the crayfish front, there are loads in a local canal. What a mate used to do was to lay his landing net in the margins and drop a cube of luncheon meat into it. You will see the light meat under the water. When you cant see it a reggie will be noshing it. Lift net , remove reggie and repeat process. He apparently took 43 one day like this a couple of years ago.

Bit late for the grouse now. They are out of season until 12th August.

The story I read said that the Government would not enforce the ban until all the legal challenges were completed.As there will be a case brought under the European Human Rights Act this could be as much as 5 years into the future couldn't it?

I used to think that way once - but now I think I would whether they were on fire or not :o

I apologise for this post starting a new thread. It was actually in reply to a poster that asked what happens now and whether he was ok to shoot a fox on a driven day. When I tried to post this reply the original post had vanished. My reply to whoever you are is as follows: Act 1949 will also be challenged. There is much legal opinion that it is in itself invalid. The challenge is this. In 1911 the Parliament Act was brought in because Lloyd George needed to raise taxes and was going to sqeeze the rich. The House of Lords said that they would vote it down and so Lloyd George threatened to create enough new peers to ensure he got his way.It was passed that if the Commons put the same bill to the Lords in three consecutive sessions then the Commons would have its way as the elected chamber. In 1949 this was amended to two sessions instead of three. This amendment was never passed by the Lords officially but was a sort of nodded through agreement.It has never been challenged before, but as all laws in this country have to pass through the Lords there is as I said earlier much legal opinion that says the Parliament Act 1949 which is what has been used tonight is not valid. Should the courts uphold this then all other acts passed using this device would also be invalid. If you are on a driven shoot and you shoot the fox then you are not breaking the law - in fact quite the reverse. The law only allows dogs to be used for flushing foxes if they are to be shot and then using no more than two dogs.If you have three or more dogs in the beating line you are not breaking the law BUT if they chase a fox or a hare then you are a criminal !!! The law will also require you to shoot any hare or fox that is flushed using dogs even if there are no more than two. So much for the "no ground game" rules on lots of shoots Eh? As for shooting being next - well here is a link to the Labour Animal Welfare Society site and an article entitled "Hunting down - shooting to go" and this after assurances from the government that shooting and fishing were safe. Circulate this as widely as possible and give your full support to the hunts because if they fall we are next. Link: http://www.labouranimalwelfaresociety.org/...nimal%20Aid.htm

DONT TELL HIM PIKE !!!!

Dear Pike, With regard to your signature. I was there and Johnny Scott most definitely did NOT call Blair a BLOODY nuisance. What HAS happened to the Daggers BTW? After the first couple of games I thought you were play off bound at the very least. You are coming to "our" place in a couple of weeks so I hope your run of form continues

What would be better would be if all field sports supporters joined the RSPCA. The ruling council decide the policies and is in the hands of the animal rights morons. In recent years it has only taken about 6-7000 votes to get elected to the council.The only way to restore sanity to the RSPCA is for us all to join and put up sensible candidates who believe in animal WELFARE and not animal RIGHTS. and yes I am a member of the RSPCA - along with the CA, BASC and Union of Country Sports Workers.