glorious twelfth

[mrbright]

how many birds from the'glorious twelfth' didn't make it to friday the 13th ?

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by mrbright

how many birds from the'glorious twelfth' didn't make it to friday the 13th ?

A hell of a lot more than would be there if there was no 'Glorious Twelth'.

No grouse shooting in the UK would undoubtably mean far fewer red grouse. It would also have an adverse effect on moorland nesting waders and, possibly, other moorland species. On the other hand I'm sure we would see a rise in nesting hen harrier numbers.

Cheers
Jonathan

[Ukwildlifeo]

A better question might be how many Bird of prey from the'glorious twelfth' didn't make it to friday the 13th...

[mrbright]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

A better question might be how many Bird of prey from the'glorious twelfth' didn't make it to friday the 13th...

well put, i might be wrong on this, but i'm sure the twelfth is an excuse to blast away at anything misfortunate enough to lift off from the ground.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by mrbright

i might be wrong on this

You are wrong. The only species of birds that can be legally shot on 12th August (bar woodpigeons and some species of corvids, etc) are red grouse, ptarmigan and common snipe. It would be foolish in the extreme to shoot any other species on such a high-profile date as 12th August when many AR's and news teams are out on the moors.

Cheers
Jonathan

[Gill Catton]

Far more made it than the thousands of domestic poultry that have spent four miserable weeks of life living in their own filfth and dead relatives and that never saw daylight until crammed into a crate and and stacked into a lorry to be sluaghtered for people to buy in the supermarket.

Though I have concerns too about the loss of birds of prey in some areas but I don't tar all shoots with the same brush and recognise a free range, happy animal meat source when I see one (well happy as they can be in the last few minutes) and I recognise the habitat value of many estates to a myriad of invertebrates and small birds.

[shenk1]

I think what ukwildlifeo means is how many BOP were "Removed" from the areas where the grouse were going to be blasted so they were not in competition with these illustrious marksmen

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Far more made it than the thousands of domestic poultry that have spent four miserable weeks of life living in their own filfth and dead relatives and that never saw daylight until crammed into a crate and and stacked into a lorry to be sluaghtered for people to buy in the supermarket.

.... and recognise a free range, happy animal meat source when I see one ...

Are you aware of how pheasants and r-l-partridges have been bred recently by some British breeders? I suggest you check it out ..... It made battery hens conditions (before they were banned) look comparatively humane. At least the very worst caging practices for British reared pheasants have now been banned this year, however this may mean that French battery reared imports will be here instead.

EDIT: Just checked the latest and hadn't realised that this new government appears to not be going through with the proposed improved animal welfare conditions after all.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Are you aware of how pheasants and r-l-partridges have been bred recently by some British breeders?

That may be so, but no red grouse are artificially reared in the UK, which is what the thread is about.

Cheers
Jonathan

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

That may be so, but no red grouse are artificially reared in the UK, which is what the thread is about.

Cheers
Jonathan

Only MrBright knows the full intention of this thread ... And many of the red grouse estates also are pheasant/partridge shooting estates too, at least in England.

But if the gamekeepers on the red grouse estates had not in recent decades been killing the hen harrier at the same time as the estates were increasing sheep grazing on the moorland which caused a very significant loss of heather moorland to grass, (loss of the very habitat and cover that is vital to the red grouse), they would have realised a lot sooner that they were degrading the habitat for red grouse. And hence why they are now easier prey for hen harrier where they are not being persecuted. They have less cover and are concentrated in smaller areas. It has been about over-exploitation of the moorland, wanting both red grouse and more sheep (and of course there was the nibbling into it with conifer plantations too by the lure of grants which also gave additional habitat for pheasant game shooting). If you see a map that shows the huge loss of heather moorland to grass dominated moorland it is quite apparent the extent of habitat loss. Added in of course the increased draining of moorland over the same period, reducing wader habitat too. At least this is what I've been told by an academic whose area of research is precisely this area.