What can one shoot?

[graham56]

What can one shoot?

Now, obviously, the neighbour's cat (or the neighbour for that matter) would be off limits.

Is the shooting of Magpies allowed?

Yes, as they belong to the Crow family and are classed as vermin.

 

[XmisterIS]

Changing the subject slightly.....
My daughter has a dairy allergy, so we have to buy alternatives for her, and rather than doubling up our shopping, we tend to just use the same stuff. We have dairy free spread, and I actually prefer the taste of her Oat Milk. But why the bloody hell does it all have to be so damned expensive???
I think more people would use the alternatives if it were a simliar price, but we usually find its at least double!

I drink soya milk because I'm not supposed to have milk or cream (but I do anyway sometimes!), I tend to get the supermarket own-brand stuff, it's much cheaper than the other stuff. I won't get the bargain-basement "value" stuff because it tastes like water (it has a lot less soya in it than the other ones).

Incidentally, I eat hardly any meat not because I think it's wrong to eat meat but because I don't think it's particularly healthy to eat meat all the time, because we didn't evolve to eat meat all the time and it can create all sorts of problems in later life. The only time I'll ever eat red meat is when it's burgers on a BBQ.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Yes, as they belong to the Crow family and are classed as vermin.

Rooks are also on the list, and yet their activities in eating leatherjackets are entirely beneficial.

 

[graham56]

Rooks are also on the list, and yet their activities in eating leatherjackets are entirely beneficial.

so are Jays, a great looking bird, but would you blat a Jay?

 

[Ravenbait]

Yes, as they belong to the Crow family and are classed as vermin.

Belonging to the Crow family does not automatically make a species a valid target. And all sorts of things are unfairly classed as vermin.

Sam

 

[asterix]

Rooks are also on the list, and yet their activities in eating leatherjackets are entirely beneficial.

We could thin out the rooks by shooting the leatherjackets.

 

[Becs]

I think technically one can shoot foxes, especially now one is not allowed to hunt them the proper traditional way

 

[asterix]

Technically we could shoot Rupert Murdoch but I don't think it has been made legal yet.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

so are Jays, a great looking bird, but would you blat a Jay?

I wouldn't, because they're not causing any harm round where I live.

 

[asterix]

Worm fanciers shoot moles. A tricky operation that ruins the lawn.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Or kill yobs who vandalise an estate.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

And exactly what harm are Magpies causing ?

OK they take young out of songbirds nests, but that is natural predation. From your argument it would be perfectly acceptable for a worm fancier to shoot songbirds, or a fly twitcher to shoot swallows.

The problem with magpies is that the normal predator/prey ratio does not apply because they are omnivorous. It's simplistic to say that that raiding a nest does not matter because the birds will lay again. This of course was the egg collectors excuse. Many birds are single brooded and time their breeding to match a food source. The great tit for example will be raising their young at the time when the oak moth caterpillers are most abundant. From my empirical observations, magpies are extremely effective nest robbers of urban song thrushes.

I've seen a "nature garden" created in approximately an acre surrounded by largely open countryside in Shropshire. Careful plantings were carried out to encourage songbirds with virtually no success because of the local magpies. A Larsen trap was purchased, and within a year the garden was full of birds. The issue is not one of extermination, but keeping a healthy balance

 

[Melonfish]

Moss m8, have a word with some of the farmers you pass in the mornings, i reckon if you approach properly and ask nicely they'll give you permission to shoot on their land.
now if your running a decent rifle anywhere from about 10-11.9ft lbs you should be good for rabbits, tree rats (greys only) and other vermin, mags, pigeon and rats. the cotton tails and tree rats are quite edible as is the pigeon
get yourself over to some air rifle forums and have an ask on there and they'll have all the info you need, pigeonwatch is a good one

also, i understand many people see the taking of any life to be abhorrent, i respect this view, i just have a different one.

remember people, meat is murder....tasty, tasty murder..

pete

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Moss m8, have a word with some of the farmers you pass in the mornings, i reckon if you approach properly and ask nicely they'll give you permission to shoot on their land.
now if your running a decent rifle anywhere from about 10-11.9ft lbs you should be good for rabbits, tree rats (greys only) and other vermin, mags, pigeon and rats. the cotton tails and tree rats are quite edible as is the pigeon
get yourself over to some air rifle forums and have an ask on there and they'll have all the info you need, pigeonwatch is a good one

also, i understand many people see the taking of any life to be abhorrent, i respect this view, i just have a different one.

remember people, meat is murder....tasty, tasty murder..

pete

Humans are meat. Cats are meat. Dogs are meat. Fancy eating any of those?
Also haven't we messed about enough with the laws of nature already? Thought we might have learned by now!

 

[Zoiders]

Humans are meat. Cats are meat. Dogs are meat. Fancy eating any of those?
Also haven't we messed about enough with the laws of nature already? Thought we might have learned by now!

I would give dog a whirl, plenty of places in the world where dog is on the menu.