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Italian cull


Mice!
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Just reading Jeremy Clarkson's article in todays sun, he says several decades ago coypu escaped and today there are 1.3 million running about causing floods and eating crops.

The Italian government has decided a cull is needed, huge lumps of money have been set aside and hunters encouraged to get out there with there guns, a target of 300,000 dead every year.

He then says can you imagine if it had been announced in Britain, there would have been late night sittings in the H O P millions would have marched on Whitehall  and Brian May would have climbed onto the roof of Buckingham palace.

But in Italy? Not a squeak just a bit of light gunfire.How true is that

Also watched the new Zeeland country file special this week, asking how had they been able to manage TB so effectively the answer was kill everything non native that can carry the disease, they don't muck around in other countries that's for sure.

This time next week there will be calls for people to home the coypu over here because we don't have any trouble with floods or non native species do we?

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I don't like shooting anything that doesn't need shooting but when it comes to non native envasive species I say let them have it!

I don't understand why the government doesnt ask for voluntiers to carry out a near 24 a day systamatic cull of grey squirels for say 6 months and attempt to reintroduce the red.

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Shooting is run on very different lines in Italy to the UK. They have an almost free for all system where huge areas are open for the public to shoot while no doubt  UK landowners would not be happy with that. When the UK govenment  decided to remove coypu from the UK countryside then employed a team of trappers and the project was a huge success. I never thought they would get them all , but they did and its been decades since a wild coypu has been seen in this country. The same system was employed to remove ruddy ducks from the UK. And again its been success. I saw my last ruddy duck in 2010.

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Just now, anser2 said:

Shooting is run on very different lines in Italy to the UK. They have an almost free for all system where huge areas are open for the public to shoot while no doubt  UK landowners would not be happy with that. When the UK govenment  decided to remove coypu from the UK countryside then employed a team of trappers and the project was a huge success. I never thought they would get them all , but they did and its been decades since a wild coypu has been seen in this country. The same system was employed to remove ruddy ducks from the UK. And again its been success. I saw my last ruddy duck in 2010.

I started posting before you replied, your post goes some way to answer my question to be fair.

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2 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

I don't like shooting anything that doesn't need shooting but when it comes to non native envasive species I say let them have it!

I don't understand why the government doesnt ask for voluntiers to carry out a near 24 a day systamatic cull of grey squirels for say 6 months and attempt to reintroduce the red.

Good idea. As far as I know use to be something like that in 60's last time if "Im right. Probably today, would be  a big problem with  lots of "bleeding heart" do gooders walking everywhere.

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8 hours ago, Honey Monster said:

Good idea. As far as I know use to be something like that in 60's last time if "Im right. Probably today, would be  a big problem with  lots of "bleeding heart" do gooders walking everywhere.

1952 - Around 7,000 Grey Squirrel Shooting Clubs in existence but issue of free cartridges much abused. Forestry Commission argues for greater effort to control grey's through national tail bounty. 

1953 - First anti-grey squirrel propaganda on Radio 4’s The Archers. An experimental bonus system introduced to complement squirrel clubs; one shilling or two free cartridges paid per grey squirrel tail. The bounty is raised to two shillings in 1956. 1,520,304 grey squirrel bounties paid in five years with no effect on grey squirrel numbers. The system is abandoned in 1958. 

1958 - Trapping shown to be more efficient than shooting grey squirrels. 

1973 - The Squirrels order makes it legal to poison grey squirrels with warfarin in areas with no red squirrels. 

2014 - The EU licence for the production and sale of warfarin as a grey squirrel bait ended on 30 September 2014. Manufacturers and stockists are no longer able to sell warfarin to control grey squirrels. However, users who have stocks of it left can use it until 30 September 2015.

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11 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

I don't like shooting anything that doesn't need shooting but when it comes to non native envasive species I say let them have it!

I don't understand why the government doesnt ask for voluntiers to carry out a near 24 a day systamatic cull of grey squirels for say 6 months and attempt to reintroduce the red.

Agreed paragraph one.

Paragraph two, they simply don't trust anyone, even people who have been vetted?

Something similar? A few years ago I was made aware of a situation where officers of long proven standing were trusted less than unknowns off the street? This in relation to interaction with public?

Hey No, all part of the decline?

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51 minutes ago, old man said:

Agreed paragraph one.

Paragraph two, they simply don't trust anyone, even people who have been vetted?

Something similar? A few years ago I was made aware of a situation where officers of long proven standing were trusted less than unknowns off the street? This in relation to interaction with public?

Hey No, all part of the decline?

Yeah agreed, I definitely think we're going backwards in many ways and feel it's due to over population, we're becoming a faceless society with different groups competing for space and people with diffeent agendas constantly being offended, the governent then steps in and bans/legislates everything, ruining everyone's fun, but I digress.

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What about Pheasants (not native),if and when they ban shoots what impact on the countryside will thousands of released pheasants have?

Counted 23 dead pheasants on a 1/2 mile stretch of the A1 on the way to the Metro.Lord Lamptons shoot,there are more pheasants getting hit by cars there than on any  local shoot.

Edited by Davyo
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7 hours ago, Yellow Bear said:

1952 - Around 7,000 Grey Squirrel Shooting Clubs in existence but issue of free cartridges much abused. Forestry Commission argues for greater effort to control grey's through national tail bounty. 

1953 - First anti-grey squirrel propaganda on Radio 4’s The Archers. An experimental bonus system introduced to complement squirrel clubs; one shilling or two free cartridges paid per grey squirrel tail. The bounty is raised to two shillings in 1956. 1,520,304 grey squirrel bounties paid in five years with no effect on grey squirrel numbers. The system is abandoned in 1958. 

1958 - Trapping shown to be more efficient than shooting grey squirrels. 

1973 - The Squirrels order makes it legal to poison grey squirrels with warfarin in areas with no red squirrels. 

2014 - The EU licence for the production and sale of warfarin as a grey squirrel bait ended on 30 September 2014. Manufacturers and stockists are no longer able to sell warfarin to control grey squirrels. However, users who have stocks of it left can use it until 30 September 2015.

Thanks yellow bear good info there.

Davyo, how long do you think all the pheasant would last if they ever did ban driven shooting? I think they would still be around but numbers would soon settle when hundreds of thousands aren't being released every year.

19 hours ago, anser2 said:

Shooting is run on very different lines in Italy to the UK. They have an almost free for all system where huge areas are open for the public to shoot while no doubt  UK landowners would not be happy with that. When the UK govenment  decided to remove coypu from the UK countryside then employed a team of trappers and the project was a huge success. I never thought they would get them all , but they did and its been decades since a wild coypu has been seen in this country. The same system was employed to remove ruddy ducks from the UK. And again its been success. I saw my last ruddy duck in 2010.

Were the ruddy ducks removed because they were interbreeding with other ducks or have I remembered that wrong??

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5 hours ago, Honey Monster said:

Also I see problem with permissions. Public/state forests, parks etc are usually full of people, dog walkers etc and shooting greys in such a environment might be problematic . Private woodlands- owners might be not interested in getting rid of greys . How was  it solved in the past?

It’s not impossible to safely shoot public areas, but careful planning is required. By using feeders in safe discreet location you can pull the Squirrels to you. We are not talking about roaming around and taking pot shots.

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2 hours ago, Mice! said:

Thanks yellow bear good info there.

Davyo, how long do you think all the pheasant would last if they ever did ban driven shooting? I think they would still be around but numbers would soon settle when hundreds of thousands aren't being released every year.

Were the ruddy ducks removed because they were interbreeding with other ducks or have I remembered that wrong??

They were breeding with the white headed ducks in Spain an endangered spp

Coypu had a bounty on their tails varied between £5-00 and 5 bob mostly in east Anglia, I remember seeing some as a small child in Essex in the 50's

I was employed to help eradicate Mink from the Western isles and this was carried out under strict conditions, the argument against a bounty was that the conditions may not be adhered too

In NZ when they want to eradicate an alien spp they live trap the ones they want to keep and poison everything else...:)

Edited by islandgun
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cheers island gun, glad my memory still works, on stuff that doesn't matter ?

Did you put up a link a while back showing a mink attacking a gull? I had meant to watch the video at home but never did.

37 minutes ago, islandgun said:

I was employed to help eradicate Mink from the Western isles and this was carried out under strict conditions, the argument against a bounty was that the conditions may not be adhered too

 

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Last Coypu I saw in the wild was six years ago at Marseille Airport.

Where I used to park there is a small water storage area with reeds etc. Was just locking the motor ready to go to work and saw this thing that I couldn’t identify- took a bit of internet searching to find out what it was.

Shouldnt really have been surprised as one weekend out walking there we came across a small stream with pools which contained terrapins 

That coupled with the Boar and Tortoise In garden, meant I was no longer surprised to what we would find.

In living there 10 years I only ever saw however, 1 rabbit and 1 pheasant......

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26 minutes ago, Mice! said:

cheers island gun, glad my memory still works, on stuff that doesn't matter ?

Did you put up a link a while back showing a mink attacking a gull? I had meant to watch the video at home but never did.

 

Thats me full of stuff that doesn't matter....:lol: .........not sure about the link google will find it

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Honey Monster.....I shoot Squirrels in very public Parks that are open to the public 24/7 - no real problems over the last 3 years. The areas where shooting can take place are checked by a Health and Safety Officer and a URN is obtained from the local police on each foray - TBH the Police are very good about it and as long as only Air Rifles are used with secure back stops then shooting is very effective and safe - we average around 250/year Tree Rats.

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On 06/01/2018 at 21:23, Mice! said:

The Italian government has decided a cull is needed, huge lumps of money have been set aside and hunters encouraged to get out there with there guns, a target of 300,000 dead every year.

I'm sure I read somewhere recently that there are organised fox drives in parts of Germany to reduce risk from rabies, many hundreds being shot in some regions.  Again, not a peep of opposition from what I could gather.   Spent many hours wondering why the British public is so different but not been able to come up with an answer.   :hmm:

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8 minutes ago, catchthepigeonmutley said:

I'm sure I read somewhere recently that there are organised fox drives in parts of Germany to reduce risk from rabies, many hundreds being shot in some regions.  Again, not a peep of opposition from what I could gather.   Spent many hours wondering why the British public is so different but not been able to come up with an answer.   

I think the UK is often a leader in law, "rights" ect, veganisum is on the rise, i find it all concerning for our sport really if this is the shape of things to come.

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maybe its an island thing? We don't have rabies thankfully, but if we did then folk might well think differently about how wild animals are managed.

watching the new Zealand country file you could tell Adam Henson wanted to say much more, maybe did and they edited it or re did it?

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