One for the birds.

[Tracy D'arth]

As I understand it a later act than 1981  puts just about all these fowl on the protected list.

Please tell me if the dratted Canada Goose is fair game and I will eradicate the swine.

TD'

[ditchcrawler]

21 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

As I understand it a later act than 1981  puts just about all these fowl on the protected list.

Please tell me if the dratted Canada Goose is fair game and I will eradicate the swine.

TD'

What I posted was from the BASC website so I would think its uptodate, as I no longer shoot I am not a member.  Remember you need the landowners permission and it needs to be within the shooting season, also in my opinion the do taste OK when cooked.    https://basc.org.uk/advice/quarry-species-shooting-seasons/

Edited July 12, 2020 by ditchcrawler

[Dr Bob]

On 12/07/2020 at 12:15, Tracy D'arth said:

 

If we were unfortunate enough to have Canada Geese which cannot legally be shot anymore, I would feed them all the crap cheap bread I could find in the hope that they would drown, hateful dirty useless noisy birds.

 

 

Fully agree. Bloody awful birds. Thriving in the UK and pushing other species out. Send 'em back to where they came from.

[WillH3P0]

There's so many! Good to see such moents. It's inspire me.

 

P.S. What Ryan Gosling doing here?

[Athy]

On 12/07/2020 at 22:28, Tracy D'arth said:

 

Please tell me if the dratted Canada Goose is fair game and I will eradicate the swine.

TD'

I don't think you're allowed to shoot pigs.

 

What have the chinstrap geese done to you? I love seeing them beside the canal, they're most handsome birds.

[Jerra]

42 minutes ago, Athy said:

I don't think you're allowed to shoot pigs.

 

What have the chinstrap geese done to you? I love seeing them beside the canal, they're most handsome birds.

Can you accuse somebody of being "birdist"?

[Athy]

5 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Can you accuse somebody of being "birdist"?

I don't think it's something for which you can be brought before the beak.

[Dr Bob]

50 minutes ago, Athy said:

I don't think you're allowed to shoot pigs.

 

What have the chinstrap geese done to you? I love seeing them beside the canal, they're most handsome birds.

I cant find any references to hand but have read in the past that the proliferation of Canada Geese has had an adverse effect on the numbers of residential and migrating water fowl. Canada geese are quite agressive so stop other local birds breeding and make competition for food difficult for others. Introducing new species is great until they start pushing the locals out.

[Athy]

Since, according to Wiki, they've been in Britain since the 18th century, they're not exactly upstart incomers!

There can be few more thrilling sights and sounds in the bird world than a flock of them in flight.

[Jerra]

33 minutes ago, Athy said:

Since, according to Wiki, they've been in Britain since the 18th century, they're not exactly upstart incomers!

There can be few more thrilling sights and sounds in the bird world than a flock of them in flight.

They were introduced for ornamental purposes around 1660, so definitely not a new comer.   There are somewhere over 55,000 pairs knocking around the UK compared to our native Greylag - 47,000

 

Interestingly both species have had a population explosion in recent history the Canadas have quadrupled in number since the mid 1980s while the greylag have increase 7 to 10 fold in the same time.

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, Athy said:

Since, according to Wiki, they've been in Britain since the 18th century, they're not exactly upstart incomers!

There can be few more thrilling sights and sounds in the bird world than a flock of them in flight.

Oh yes there is, the sight of a shooting line and the sound of the shotguns!

[Athy]

45 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Oh yes there is, the sight of a shooting line and the sound of the shotguns!

Now if we were discussing swans, I might see your point of view.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Athy

[Tracy D'arth]

Just now, Athy said:

Now iF we were discussing swans, I might see your point of view.

 

 

Corrected for you Athy.

 

Swans a lovely, we have 3 breeding pairs, 9 cygnets collectively. I have got most of them trained to eat from the hand without snatching or pecking. They sit on the clover outside the boat, do a great job in keeping the grass down.

 

They are far cleaner than the CGs and quieter.

[Athy]

28 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

 

 

They are far cleaner than the CGs and quieter.

Yes, they just hiss menacingly. I think the hiss is Swan for "Clear off".

 

Thanks for pointing out my typo, which I had (obviously) missed.

[Jerra]

I am at a loss as to why anybody should take a dislike to any wild creature, they are only trying to live their lives often under great pressure from humans.

[Athy]

Just now, Jerra said:

I am at a loss as to why anybody should take a dislike to any wild creature, they are only trying to live their lives often under great pressure from humans.

Your point is well made.

That said, I'm sure we all have our favourites. I'd rather see a robin at our bird table than a magpie, and I'd rather see a mallard alongside our boat than a mute swan.

[Jerra]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Your point is well made.

That said, I'm sure we all have our favourites. I'd rather see a robin at our bird table than a magpie, and I'd rather see a mallard alongside our boat than a mute swan.

To me there is a difference between having favourite and suggesting mass shooting.   Taking Canadas as a case in point they haven't displaced any native Fauna and have been so successful as they are filling an unfilled niche.

 

It is a little different with more recently introduced animals which are actively harming our native wildlife.  Grey Squirrels being an example.  I am very pleased to enjoy the antics of them in my daughter's garden in Sheffield I do however recommend limited control up here in the Lakes.   We are one of the last strongholds of the Red Squirrel.

 

However I would never suggest the sort of extermination some are suggesting for Canadas.

 

A last thought on your statement 

 "There can be few more thrilling sights and sounds in the bird world than a flock of them in flight."

 

Substitute geese for them and I wholeheartedly agree, it's just we see the flight of Canadas more often as they choose to live nearer humans.

 

• "

[Hudds Lad]

[Athy]

That's not a very good drawing of a swan.

[Onewheeler]

On 22/05/2020 at 12:42, Tracy D'arth said:

Well. if it looks like a duck, walks  like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it is a duck.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it needs longer on the barbeque.

On 22/05/2020 at 12:42, Tracy D'arth said:

 

On 22/05/

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Onewheeler

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Jerra said:

I am at a loss as to why anybody should take a dislike to any wild creature, they are only trying to live their lives often under great pressure from humans.

Just like rats,mice, cockroaches, wasps, flies, migies, ants frees, ticks and a thousand other things

[Jerra]

59 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Just like rats,mice, cockroaches, wasps, flies, migies, ants frees, ticks and a thousand other things

Yes and as far as possible we should be leaving them alone.  You have I assume noticed that I did accept control where there was a necessity e.g. when threatening native flora or fauna or as a threat to life.

 

I don't know if you were taught the web of life at school but for an environment to be healthy it needs all the organisms which have evolved for that habitat.   One of the greatest threats to mankind after war and climate change is starvation.   Over one third of every mouthful of food you eat relies on wild pollinators or wild ones transferred to agriculture.   Every tomato you have eaten since 1988 was fertilized by a Bumble Bee.

 

What has this to do with your list of "pests" you are thinking.  Well it is simple the wholesale destruction of any "pest" is unnecessary and in the long run reduces biodiversity and ultimately the planets health which means our health.

 

Probably far to deep and intellectual a set of facts for the sort of person who trots out simple answers such as a list of things which sometimes are a nuisance or posts a laughing emoticon.

 

Ah well we can but try to educate it has been my life's work.

[ditchcrawler]

5 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

They are coming over here and breeding with our geese 

1 hour ago, Jerra said:

Yes and as far as possible we should be leaving them alone.  You have I assume noticed that I did accept control where there was a necessity e.g. when threatening native flora or fauna or as a threat to life.

 

I don't know if you were taught the web of life at school but for an environment to be healthy it needs all the organisms which have evolved for that habitat.   One of the greatest threats to mankind after war and climate change is starvation.   Over one third of every mouthful of food you eat relies on wild pollinators or wild ones transferred to agriculture.   Every tomato you have eaten since 1988 was fertilized by a Bumble Bee.

 

What has this to do with your list of "pests" you are thinking.  Well it is simple the wholesale destruction of any "pest" is unnecessary and in the long run reduces biodiversity and ultimately the planets health which means our health.

 

Probably far to deep and intellectual a set of facts for the sort of person who trots out simple answers such as a list of things which sometimes are a nuisance or posts a laughing emoticon.

 

Ah well we can but try to educate it has been my life's work.

I am so pleased that you are so well aware of my level of intelligence. Or was that just another case of personal insults on this group? 

[Jerra]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I am so pleased that you are so well aware of my level of intelligence. Or was that just another case of personal insults on this group? 

It was a reply to what IMO was a silly unthought out post.

[system 4-50]

1 hour ago, Jerra said:

Yes and as far as possible we should be leaving them alone.  You have I assume noticed that I did accept control where there was a necessity e.g. when threatening native flora or fauna or as a threat to life.

 

I don't know if you were taught the web of life at school but for an environment to be healthy it needs all the organisms which have evolved for that habitat.   One of the greatest threats to mankind after war and climate change is starvation.   Over one third of every mouthful of food you eat relies on wild pollinators or wild ones transferred to agriculture.   Every tomato you have eaten since 1988 was fertilized by a Bumble Bee.

 

What has this to do with your list of "pests" you are thinking.  Well it is simple the wholesale destruction of any "pest" is unnecessary and in the long run reduces biodiversity and ultimately the planets health which means our health.

 

Probably far to deep and intellectual a set of facts for the sort of person who trots out simple answers such as a list of things which sometimes are a nuisance or posts a laughing emoticon.

 

Ah well we can but try to educate it has been my life's work.

That has been true for millenia. But it is time for change. Our ultimate aim must be to control every vector in the web of life and replace every one with one that suits us better. In time we should be able to manufacture every species that we need and every species that we want to grace our planet. And every one that is a threat to us or capable of evolving into  a threat to us will be eradicated.  Carbon chemistry is well able to produce millions more types of living things than have ever existed (on this planet) to date.  Oh, and we might improve ourselves a little too!

I agree this may take a little time and we should not destroy anything until we have a full replacement.

Edited July 28, 2020 by system 4-50