Fair Game? Scotland's Sporting Estates

BBC2 Rspb tin rattling time by all appearances. Do it every nesting season. BBC falls in line every time.
 
I did a writeup on SGA forum re RSPB Of 2400+ wildlife complaints 7 I think had merit. Everything was added as a complaint. One area devoid of the required raptor was countered by an expert as "wrong habitat why would you expect to find a harrier there?"
 
If this is a heap of ****e, then why are dead eagles still being found?

I have spent most of my working life defending keepering and certainly made myself unpopular at many a dinner party, although I will not defend the undefendable. The innocent have nothing to fear.

These programmes are good, they stir up discussion and debate.

Scottish Gov are now leading the way on wildlife crime , not EnviroNGO's. They along with the public are sick of seeing those who claim big ££££'s through SRDP getting away with "murder", they want value for money and see wildlife crime as an embarrassment to the nation.

2 years ago we were as close as we have ever been to getting Buzzard permissions, then some ****t killed Alma the Eagle, well they closed the book on the whole thing, all the hard work by Alex & co at the SGA was wasted because someone acted like a tit and not the "wildlife professional" the SGA have been advocating.

Untill everyone pulls the line and follows the law , this type of media will keep emerging.
 
As my brother pointed out to me, look at the date. Grouse moor, two weeks to go to the off. What keeper is going to lay poison two weeks before the dogs are going through the area. The finger first point to the field sport fraternity and never wavers yet RSPB was responsible for poisoning birds when rats were scavenged after a dose of poison. Again the figure relate to birds and animals. Brakes down to 25 a year (yes too many) but no proof or information how delivered. Remember the last keepers t be prosecuted were reported by keepers.
Jim
 
You are right Jim, the timing is apt.

Doesn't the shooting fraternity not do the same, good news stories prior to the 12th and big up Moy and Scone.

In the past I'm sure many orgs have inadvertantly killed something by accident, but that is it , an accident.

Yes you can play with statistics, we all do.

At the end of the day poisoning is still happening and so is shooting of protected species, and it HAS to stop because that minority are f'in it up for all of us.
Poisoning has all but stopped but it only takes one bait and we're in the papers again, it's not wholely on keepers, crofting and farming are probably the main culprits on the West Coast, I lost my best ever deer dog to a bait laid on my ground by a neighbouring shepherd.
We all jump up and down when JMT LEGALLY kill and leave a few hinds on Nevis, but we are ready to defend those who if anyone will bring an end to game shooting.
If this programme is done well and shames some individuals, then good, because I am sick of all the hard work being done by SGA etc. being trashed by someone who is ready to shame a whole section of society for a few bl**dy grouse or pheasants. We are a hell of a lot more savvy nowadays and surely we are not still terrified of our bosses and there need for another 20% on the bag.
I'd rather pack shelves in Tesco's than run about as some idiots lachie breaking the law for someone who will happily see you go to jail.
What other profession will run the risk of jail, public humiliation, homelessness, depression, marrital breakdown, for minimum wage a tweed suit and a dog allowance?
As paying guns we will have to accept possibly smaller bags and higher prices for game shooting, think of it the next time you are moaning about 92 rather than the promised 100 and whether it is better for the buzzard to eat a few extra or the guy in tweed to get and extra £10 tip from you, remember if he is breaking the law it is for your pleasure not his, think of his wife when the cops kick in the door at 3am and rifle through her clothes drawers and empty the kitchen cupboards, think of his kids when the police are raking through their toybox while they are sitting terrified in their pj's in the back of a police car. These are the realities of an odd raptor getting topped, I've seen it and it ain't good, I've had the keeper on the phone at 3am , crying because his wife is going to leave because of the strain of a police investigation[which usually takes at least 2years] and he is thinking of ending it.
These are the realities of wildlife crime, it is not RSPB,SNH,BTO,PAWS or the police that are to blame , it is the shooters and owners who put on the pressure for big bags that are to blame
 
Well said Bambislayer, anyone who uses poison these days is an idiot in my opinion,and are certainly been treated like an idiot by their employer.
 
‎I think estate owners need to think twice too, before coming out with stupid statements like:

"The owners of sporting estates argue that without careful land management, stocks of game birds - like red grouse - can be wiped out by predators."
Why kill Scottish birds of prey?

After all, the public are not idiots, they know that predators do NOT exterminate their source of food!

While I'm here, I'd just like to add that I do get fed up with Keepers being singled out for what seems like ALL the blame, because I firmly believe that those involved in Hill Sheep farming, are just as guilty.
We all know that Grouse are big business, but so are Sheep, 2nd only to Cattle & worth £165m a year to the Scottish economy & I have little doubt that there are just as many, if not more, rogue Shepherds & Hill Sheep Farmers out there, up to no good.
 
Well said bambislayer, of course we are more and more restricted in what we can do , and I do believe that some sort of licensing scheme is the answer for the likes of Buzzards, but the days of all out war against anything with a hooked beak is over.
 
I think the application must be made to the Scottish Executive and to date non have been granted but the more pressure may one day swing the balance?
 
Bambislayer is certainly on the war path here and he may well be justified but I would like to add that very few keepers have been prosecuted, he proposes that it has to be them that’s doing it.
Well does it......
If I were a keeper laying a bait, do you really think I'd leave the carcase to lay there for someone to find.... Doubtful - If you know how this stuff carbofuran works then you'd know if the bird ate at the bait site, would be dead at the bait site.
Now before anyone gets on there high horse and says I am defending the indefenecible I will add that there MAY well be Keepers around that are doing this and if so then they should face the full might of the law. My point is this that these birds may well be picking the poison up from legally poisoned vermin. ie rats/mice.
I lay poison at my place – legally! I place it areas not accessible to birds etc but who is to say that the rat or mouse that has eaten it doesn't go off and get eaten by one of these birds.
We all seem to be straight out of the blocks, beating the keepers with a big stick these days and offer no other reason for these birds deaths but there are.
Another point I'd offer is it seems odd to me that the vast majority of these dead bodies just happen to be found by Joe public RSPB member in areas not generally frequented by them. Hmmm I wonder….
Lets stop beating ourselves up without having the evidence to do so. There’s plenty enough people out there already doing that without us joining in.
 
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