Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh buzzards

[2434me]

I find that my poults are picking up natural ability just fine !

Its the UN-NATURAL numbers of buzzards, Red Kites and other BOP,s that are the problem.

Rabbits have the same problem with BOP predation ,and that has resulted in them staying underground for almost all of the daylight hours !
Pheasant poults of course cant do that and can only dodge the bullet for so long before being unlucky .

We rear 5500 for release.

 

[j0e_bl0ggs]

Saw 3 poults plucked this morning 1 buzzard on a fence post did not see the other (there are a couple of pairs floating around)
There was a Tawny owl floating around 1 release pen....

 

[deerslayer]

when u shot rabbits at night leave some laying around buzzards are lazy birds of prey when i was a gamekeeper in the west country it was nothing to see 10 to 15 circling we used to loose a few but not the numbers u speak of try it it seem to work for me regards simon

 

[BigTikka]

I have three pens with 800 birds in each, normally I can count on there
being at least three buzzards at each pen actively killing birds, along with
christ knows how many sparrowhawks doing the same. Usually they account for
up to 50 birds per pen This year I thought I'd give the electric fence trick
a try. I lost four poults in transit and used them as bait. Pluck them a
wee bit to make them noticeable, attach a live feed from your pen's
electric fence to the bird (I tie the line about the leg and prod a bit into
the body cavity) and place the bird on an upside down plastic dinner plate
(I have the plate upside down so that it does not collect water and short
out the fence). When the buzzard comes along to lift this easy meat it will
take it off the plate and because the bird its tied to the electric fence it
will not be able to go far with it before it has to land, when it does it
gets a shock and will not take a pheasant poult in a hurry again.
This cured my buzzard problem and I did the same thing for the sparrowhawks
but used a bird that one had killed and had not finished eating before I
disturbed it, I laid the trap in the same manner, except I did not shift the
carcass and the sparrowhawk came back to it within half an hour, only to
screech and fly off never to have a go again.
This year I've lost only one poult to a sparrowhawk and none to the numerous buzzards we have.

As to whether this is legal or not, I have done a lot of checking and can
not find anything to say it is illegal. There is nothing illegal about using
an electric fence to protect a pheasant pen from predators, this includes
badgers and pine martens and they are afforded the same protection that
buzzards are. A sheriff I took advise from said that it could be deemed as
harmful to a buzzard and this could be used as an argument against using it.
This could only be proven if a buzzard was killed by using this method, as
no buzzard is killed it is then sensible to argue that a pheasant poult is
about the same weight as a buzzard and you regularly see them walk around a
pen and get a shock from the same fence without doing them any harm . On talking to our local SNH office manager, he was enthusiastic about a non lethal method of control and said that he could see no grounds for it being illegal.
As to hoping for a law change or a licence to kill them, dream on! In Scotland our MSPs are actively promoting Scotland as a land of enlightened conservation, do you honestly think there's any of them with balls enough to have Scotland the first country within the EC to allow licensed killing of a native bird of prey species in order to protect a non native species released to be killed for pleasure?

 

[Gazza]

An interesting read. Could even be a more interesting debate if your method injured or killed a buzzard/sparrow hawk. You have no intention of injuring or killing the BOP and your comparison to a pheasant weight could be convincing that your method should not injure or kill. But by baiting the trap it could argued that you are intentionally trying to attract Birds Of Prey knowing that they will receive an electric shock which you would have to admit could injure or kill them. Interesting.

 

[BigTikka]

Hi Gazza,
After a season trying this I am certain that I am not harming or killing the buzzards. I now have the documentary evidence I need to defend my stance. i.e in a trial period (this year's rearing season) I killed no buzzards nor did I wound any. I would be more than willing to be taken to court with this, if only to find out what crime I'm committing. At the moment the people who tell me that this is illegal can not tell me what I could or would be charged with. The ones who tell me that it is legal will not put it in writing.
What all agree on is that it is a different way of thinking about a serious problem and that it could be a political get out for those against introducing a cull on buzzards.

What I will say is that as far as waiving mirrors, CDs, owl eyes, model owls etc this has been the only thing that has completely stopped any killing in my pens for the first time in 17 years. I refuse to break the law when it comes to these hooked beak buggers, but I am more than willing to work right up to it's very legal edge if it means saving my poults from carnage in the pens

 

[Heym SR20]

I know somebody who is a wildlife officer and os the one who issues licences for the shooting of birds of prey / cormarants etc. She is a very well trained wildlife biologist and not of tree hugging nature. A key comment she has to me about buzzards is why do gamekeepers constantly leave rabbits for them in the belief that this will keep them away from game, when all it is doing is helping the buzzards raise more chicks and survive harsh weather - thus keeping on top of the rabbit population and not leavind dead rabbits or grallochs easily available has a major impact on buzzard population.

 

[old keeper]

I too have heard that leaving out rabbits etc: will keep them off the pheasant. I have left rabbits out after a night out with the shotgun in the hope that the buzzards will feed off them, by the next morning all have gone, badgers being the main culprits and a fox or two no doubt. The buzzards will find the odd one but it is cleaned up very quickly with the help of the crows then it's back to the pen for a dessert of prime poult.
You can't stop them.