Jump to content

Recommended Posts

A group of us have joined together to form a group of volunteers who have a passion for removing Grey Squirrels for the conservation of Red Squirrels, song birds and woodlands, in this region of North-west England.

We are modelling ourselves on the West Lakes Squirrel Initiative group who are highly effective and shoot Grey Squirrels from static feeders at 25 metres using air rifles only.

Anyone interested in joining with us please send me a PM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 103
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

When clearing greys under the name of LMGC and therefore it's insurance, formal agreement between landowner and the shooter / trapper to be adheered to i.e.our paperwork.Hence the reson for air rifles only. If shooting non air rifle then not on our insurance and has to be on your own e.g. I'm on BASC

We have all been shooting and trapping as solo operators for years but believe that a co-ordinated approach is more effective for permanent clearece of areas around Red colonies and beyond .In ares where there are no reds the bounce back of song bird populations is dramatic when you remove the greys,

Idea is to put like minded people in touch with each other in their local areas to help them be more effective such as one extra pair of hands or filling in when someone goes on holiday etc and also some people are prepared to travel further afield to help out in frontline ares or just to meet up with others for the common purpose of grey-clearence.

Please make yourself known to Fisheruk if you would like to get involved we will be organising face to face meetings to explain more in the near future. regards, Suburban Shooter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it a case of shooting your own permissions and reporting to a "group" your tally?

Or have you got other plans how the group would function?

Our aim is to establish a group of responsible shooters, working to an established discipline, so that we can gain the confidence of land owners to invite us to clear grey squirrels from their woodlands, parks and gardens. This format has worked very effectively in the West Lakes area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely fantastic idea this and I wish you the very best of luck with this scheme. I only wish we had some reds in South Yorkshire to protect as I'd be out there on a mission. I still whack as many greys as I can to help the birds out though.

Thanks Paul, a similar initiative on the East of the country could enable them to move south from the North-east, over time.

Maybe there are others in N Yorks and West Yorks who would join with you?

All the best, keep hitting them!

Edited by Fisheruk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder what the Forestry Commissions views on Grey Squirrels is?

 

 

I just had a quick look , and the FC seem to feel that shooting them is the least effective way of controlling numbers .

 

I would have thought that increasing the numbers eradicated by 'any' means would support other methods of control.

Edited by Longbower
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to a meeting in London two years ago at which the FC manager was quite specific they do not permit shooting of greys on their land, not even with sub 12ft lb air rifles. They will permit trapping but as we all know trapping is a very time consuming method of controlling Grey squirrels.

The NGO's who control Grey Squirrels pay rangers to control greys primarily by trapping but the reality is that paying trappers nationally is just not viable and as a consequence it is going to be down to the likes of you and me to keep plugging away at them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Longblower, the Foresrty Commisson situation is more involved and complex the more you learn about it.

Short verson is that the FC is only interested in trees.

 

Grey squirrels strip bark off trees which means that the profit from selling those trees when it is time to harvest the trees is reduced.So the FC don't want greys in their woods from mid April to September as this is the time that most damage is caused.

 

However they are not bothered if the wood is infested with greys from October to March!!!

 

They also have a problem with having Reds in their woods because when it is time to clear fell the wood, people protest that the reds should be saved and the FC is forced to leave sections of the wood saved for reds thus again impacting on their profit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have been pleased by the response to this venture and the PM's received from interested members.

I have sent an email to those who have expressed an interest.

If you have expressed your interest and not received the email send me another PM and I will check the address, I may have keyed it in incorrectly!

ATB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...