webber Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I had a meeting this evening with the resident keeper on the shoot. We were discussing the pigeon roost shooting positions for this season and costs for next season. I'm looking after about 10 guns in one large wood, the guns have all supported the shoot by taking the various days that I've offered on PW. A few have previously shot roosting pigeon, but the majority have not. I was discussing with Jimmy the grey squirrels and shooting out the dreys. To my surprise Jimmy told me that he had spotted a couple of REDS, and had caught a couple in live catch traps to prove it. Whilst I'm disappointed that we won't now be shooting out the dreys, I'm really pleased to learn that we have some reds on the shoot, and shall now go all out to sort out the greys good and proper. I've had a cracking season; shot more on my first two drives than I did all season at the previous shoot, and now I've got a wood with RED SQUIRELLS. I've found my shooting heaven, my roots are going long and deep. The keeper raises his own birds from day olds, something that I've not been involved with previously, so I'm looking forward to lending a hand. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cometa24/7 Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 excellent news webber, i'ts realy nice to hear you've achieved a place where reds are holding, And i totaly agree with you, on your all out war with the grey.. good luck with it all,...ATB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishermanpaddy Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 The Missus' father has a syndicate which was always full of reds but this last 5 years the greys have really taken hold even with weekly shooting sessions at them. So shoot them as often as you can Make sure you take the shot greys with you, you can eat them or bury them away from the reds territory to stop the dreaded pox. I have read recently that some reds are starting to show signs of immunity to the poxvirus which is very good news indeed, but it still doesn't help them when the grey collects all the food to be had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Drey poking is the way forward. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Duncan Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 A good time to renew the war on greys with a vengeance then. Rally all shooters in the area and a good radius beyond! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpk Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 That's good news, nice to hear there starting to make a come back. I know there is a healthy population just over the water from me. Can't wait to take the kids for a bimble and see one in the wild, best get shooting those greys. Unfortunatley my permissions surprisingly don't have any but I'm going to try and accumulate some more this year. And get rid of some of those squirrels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodp Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 What puzzles me with this save the red squirrel is the attitude of some. I've approached quite a few landowners around here (the Midlands) with a view to ridding the greys and several have said "it's too late as we are over run with greys so the reds will never come back, and anyway I quite like to see them run about" I've also checked on all the Red Squirrel sites I could find and they all have the same agenda, stop the grey spreading outwards. Surely, if us folk in the middle of the grey territory make a big enough hole a large proportion of the new stock greys will fill this hole, therefore not spread outwards Surely the red squirrel societies should be pushing for this as well, it would make it a lot easier to get permissions to rid the greys if we had some sort of backing. Am I right or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Duncan Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Let's face it, a significant reduction in grey numbers generally can't be a bad thing - it's not just the reds,its the songbirds whose eggs and nestlings they raid that need lees of these critters around. I've always had a zero tolerance policy with greys, no matter what weapon I'm carrying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy H Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Cracking little creatures , We used to feed them by hand in jersey they were that unafraid of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Duncan Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 reds or greys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM1979 Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Hello Fantastic news Webber.. glad to see our Red are still fighting. Shooting the Greys is the way foward. From what ive been checking up on the Red Squirrel group sites .. of which there are alot, for example, check out Northern Red Squirrels website to find links to groups around the uk. Every little helps... and more shooting for you and others to enjoy. JohnM1979 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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