Another 4 today.......

MrYou

Well-Known Member
Out cutting grass & getting ready for silage , cutting grass out on the forrager claimed another 4 deer to day, size of poodles..Thats about 9 this week so far.

What you guys using to get these moved on, how can we wake them up to run !! :(

For those in the 'dont' know , see pic.
 

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I would have thought the noise of that would be enough to get them up.... obviously not :-|
 
The move from hay to silage has been hard on all sorts of animals. The hares in this area (which were plentiful 25-30 years ago) now really struggle to reproduce, simply because so many young are mowed at silage time. In other areas here where no silage is made, there is a really good hare population.
 
If time permits, could you not walk the ground first, or at least the headland which I assume is where most of the deer are laid up. How about using a dog to help as long as its steady to deer, that way you will cover plenty of ground, good luck.
 
presumably they were hit with the mower not the machine in the picture?
that grass is mown and in swathe and being picked up.

If it was the mower cutting standing grass then it doesnt matter how slow you go, unless someone has walked the area or you put a dog through then fawns always get hit with mowers.

Age old problem.

some mowers come with booms with heavy chains dangling down in front that effectively comb the grass and move on some fawns.

problem is they are genetically programmed to NOT move!
damn shame a major impact on population numbers
 
There is no simple answer. It's the mower that does the damage and the first you see of them is just when the blades are about to do their worst. All you can do is rely on is fast reflexes and good brakes.

There's nothing worst then when you hear that thump when another goes through the conditioner. I used to put the dogs through the mowing grass on occasion for 2 or 3 weeks before cutting but it made no difference.
 
How about going a heck of alot slower and the o
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perator looking infront of him?

You must be expecting a torrent of responses to your comment! I hope you say it tongue in cheek.;)

DC
 
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You must be expecting a torrent of responses to your comment! I hope you say it tongue in cheek.;)

DC

Not really tongue in cheek at all, I don't work in agriculture but all I have seen in the last 30 years in machines getting bigger, faster and crops getting more and more wildlife unfriendly, worst of all is rye grass for silage, which has no benefit to wildlife as far as can see whatsoever. Are farmers any richer or happier, all I see is small, medium and even large farms struggling and been taken over by big agri businesses whose only regard is the bottom line and what they can get out of it for the shareholders.
 
Well on a couple of my fav farms they fone me and i go for a walk with the dog just before they cut dont know if it helps but makes me and the farmer feel beter .:lol:
 
When the self propelled chopper can cost £250.000 just to buy and will do over 90 acres a day. And you only get payed by the acre you have to go flat out to make money !.

Bob
 
It is a private farm, we have all the care & consideration possible,for wildlife . Its slow walking pace & less. It makes my heart bleed when i see this, beleive me its not easy, especially when i have to finish some of them off, so young. We walk the fields regular , the noise levels are high from the machinery. As said above..the animals are programed to sit/ stay until last resort. Then its too late,sad so so sad . Its the initial mower that causes such destruction ! I'll sort it one way ;)
 
Get your buttalo call out a hour before then go for tea the maw will be in there and have them moved i no time.;)
 
Years back there was a prize offerd by i think a whiskey company(think) in shooting times,for an inventer to overcome this problem,obviously nobody claimed the prize.

I called a farmer on saterday morning to check when he would be mowing a particular field,as i had seen a small fawn in it, not till july so i recon it will be big enough by then.....
 
very hard but the only answer is to use a dog before they start,any good hpr would clear a field in no time,but its finding that time.must be hard to keep finding so many dead young:(
 
another 4 today

It is a private farm, we have all the care & consideration possible,for wildlife . Its slow walking pace & less. It makes my heart bleed when i see this, beleive me its not easy, especially when i have to finish some of them off, so young. We walk the fields regular , the noise levels are high from the machinery. As said above..the animals are programed to sit/ stay until last resort. Then its too late,sad so so sad . Its the initial mower that causes such destruction ! I'll sort it one way ;)
hi if you can get someone with an hpr to run over the field first he should be able to point alot of them.
my dad works on a hill farm in scotland he has done this with his h.w.v on some fields before cutting.
yours brent
 
I believe they recomend to farmers on the continent (where i don't know)to mow the fields in 'lands' working from the middle or towards cover and not cut the headland first. I think when the headland is cut first in a ring around the deer they will sit tight and definately not want to cross the fresh cut open ground with noisy machinery about. Cuting in 'lands' allows the young deer to move off the field still in cover.
I can't remember where I got this info from it's just in the back of my mind probably read it in a BDS thing.
The chances of getting many farmers let alone contractors to change their ways here is minimal. But if you have a friendly farmer who makes his own hay and silage and who likes the deer he may be willing to give it a go, it probably only takes a little longer to do a field.

George
 
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