Cute or vermin ?

[Arjimlad]

When I pop out after woodpigeon I get half a day out in countryside I might not otherwise access, I see a lot of wildlife and I bring back some ultimate free-range natural meat which has had the best life and a clean death. I help the farmer to minimise the damage to growing crops when he has tried gas-guns, various odd-looking wind-propelled scarecrow devices and similar. I test my skills of observation, marksmanship & fieldcraft to get the birds within the limited range of my gun and to bring them to bag. I have to find out which fields they are using as a restaurant at any given time and decoy them within range, and stay well hidden or else they will not come near.

Were I ever to achieve a large bag I would sell them to the local game dealing butcher to help cover costs. If you eat meat then I really don't understand the problem with going out and getting a harvest of meat for yourself and sometimes I have wondered whether, left unchecked, the woodpigeons would eat so much of our crops that the farmers would give up. You have to imagine 200 pigeons landing on a field each consuming a quantity of crop the size of your fist two or three times a day. The damage they can do is obvious and demonstrable. The most I have had is 30 and they were all eaten by my family and friends.

 

[Cush]

I must admit I am a bit two faced on this matter and have a foot in both camps. personally, I detest shooting for sport. But I have a brother who is a gamekeeper and earns his keep by looking after a shooting estate. Yes, I eat flesh, so can't argue when someone goes after a squirrel of either colour for the pot. I don't own a gun and have not used one since I left the forces forty years ago but I understand a farmer or someone living in a remote location having one and so the argument goes on and on. At the end of the day, I suppose it is down to your personal beliefs and who am I to argue either case. Mind if I catch anyone shooting into the open field from our garden I will ram the gun up their hintend sideways.

 

[Fnaar]

When I first came to Northumberland over a decade ago, walking the woods, I used to see loads of reds, and hardly ever a grey. Now, although I still see reds in remoter locations than where I live, I see far more greys than reds locally. There used to be a local organisation to which you could report sightings of greys, and they would go and despatch them (humanely, they said). I used to report the greys... my kids actually got a wee bit angry with me for doing so, saying it was cruel. The jury's out for me, and the organisation doesn't seem to send me emails any more.

 

[Mrs M]

Cute

 

[Accy cyclist]

A question for those who say they kill animals and birds for pest control and not pleasure. Do you think that when you've shot that squirrel,magpie rat or pigeon on the farmers land, no other squirrels,magpies,rats or pigeons will go on that land again, as the word gets round the "vermin" community that it's not safe to go there as you'll get shot?

 

[Vapin' Joe]

A question for those who say they kill animals and birds for pest control and not pleasure. Do you think that when you've shot that squirrel,magpie rat or pigeon on the farmers land, no other squirrels,magpies,rats or pigeons will go on that land again, as the word gets round the "vermin" community that it's not safe to go there as you'll get shot?

As it happens, rats soon suss out the danger areas to avoid. Bag two or three in a short space of time and they disappear for ages, leave them alone and the numbers rocket. I shot four in one week in the summer and none have appeared since.

 

[slowmotion]

They dig up the bulbs in our garden and scare the birds. Still, they don't crap in the crumb tray of my toaster (unlike other little rodents), and it's quite entertaining watching their acrobatic contortions as they attempt to filch the nuts from the bird feeders.
I've watched ground squirrels in Alberta. They really are cute.

 

[Arjimlad]

A question for those who say they kill animals and birds for pest control and not pleasure. Do you think that when you've shot that squirrel,magpie rat or pigeon on the farmers land, no other squirrels,magpies,rats or pigeons will go on that land again, as the word gets round the "vermin" community that it's not safe to go there as you'll get shot?

Pigeons will often change their habits if a few of their chums get bopped or they are scared off by shooting. So yes, the large flocks which can really damage a field will shove off to a more peaceful restaurant and thereby give the crop a chance to recover.

 

[speccy1]

How can people call squirrels vermin when there are cats out there crapping over everybody`s gardens - that bothers me far more

 

[summerdays]

How can people call squirrels vermin when there are cats out there crapping over everybody`s gardens - that bothers me far more

I wouldn't have a problem if they stayed in the garden... I also used to have a problem with the next door neighbour's cat wandering into that house.... I did once lock her in overnight when I didn't know she had come in, and we went away overnight, but several times I locked her in for a few hours in the day.

 

[AndyRM]

We have a dog - problem solved.

Oh - and feral cats are classed as pests (cue howls of outrage from the moggie brigade)...

I'd class my non feral cats as fecking pests!

 

[Fnaar]

[QUOTE 4226783, member: 9609"]I have seen them round the biddlestone / alwinton area quite a few times, northumberland is very patchy now with just a few little stronghlds of reds left, same here on this side of the border, reds a few and far between the greys are gradually taking over. :-(
[/QUOTE]
Yes, I've seen them out Alwinton way too, and also closer to home, near Rothley crossroads (Rothbury-Scots Gap road). Still see them near home, but not so much now

 

[Electric_Andy]

I find this sort of discussion very interesting. I am an animal lover so I would call them cute. I would also agree that they have hit vermin status, not for how they look but for how they behave and how easily that seem to be able to reproduce and thrive without natural enemies. In their defense, they didn't choose to be introduced her (from the US I believe?) and destroy our native Reds. Nor can they, as animals, realise what destruction they cause. That being said, I think that Seagulls and grey squirrels should be shot if they are causing a nuisance. I used to shoot rabbits because they were eating £££s of crops. I tried to eat most of the ones I shot, in the interest of not wasting food.

 

[subaqua]

grey most definitley Vermin . red , hmm vermin but at risk.

Grey barstewal in our tiny garden has scared away most of the birds .

 

[Electric_Andy]

[QUOTE 4226857, member: 9609"]What species of Seagulls are you having problems with, and what are they doing?
many are are really struggling and now feature on the RSPB 'RED' list which indicate that they have probably suffered declines in numbers greater than 50% over the last 25 years. The term 'seagull' covers a massive species range of some of the most amazing and fantastic of all birds.
Climate change and the way we are destroying our seas has the possibility to wipe out these magnificent birds[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry I've hit a nerve, I'm not knowledgeable about birds, but when they sit on my chimney and sqwauk at sunrise, it upsets me. Also when they become aggressive in seaside towns and steal my pasty, it upsets me.

So, what some think of as magnificent birds, can still be verminous based on their behavior and our inability to control said behavior.