Badger

maglite

whats this a hear about a cull

is this idle myth or a real problem,, how do you cull badgers?? traps??

ideas??

Clare gunner

Snares, :mad: and usually done incompetantly by Dept of AG "officals" who have never heard of using spring poles,drags or setting snares up to kill the critter instantly.:mad: :mad: Nor ever heard of deadfalls or shooting.
Cull just keep an eye on the local papers for ICABS to rant and rave on this in the letter sections.Last I heard it was going to go on in the UK.

CJhaughey

A report came out this week that said that the incidence of bovine TB was not related to badger population but due to cattle movements, it was in all the papers early last week, maybe this has shone some light on it?

luckat

They've been culling because of reports that showed that there was a high incidence of bovine TB where there was a good population of badgers. Since TB is endemic in badgers, they figured that if they got rid of the badgers, they'd get rid of the TB.

It seems a mad kind of method to me, I'd have to say, since the badgers gobble and snuffle up lots of rodents.

Can't understand why they didn't lay bait and vaccinate the badgers instead. That would seem more sensible to me. But perhaps killing is more pleasurable.

BryanL

not quiet on the money there guys.
the only country in the world to really study this has been Ireland and it has lead the way.
the previous studies have shown TB levels in badgers to be as high as 20% and that culling badgers have drastically reduced TB levels in cattle and badgers.there have been 2 previous studies and it was extended 2 years ago to Cork and a few more counties.
the snares used to do fully close so Deer can't be caught and if any non target animal is caught it can be freed.
the report was done by badger watch Ireland and some uk badger group,Hardly objective.It was full of lies and misinterpetations.
Ideally badgers would be vacinated but immunity level need to reach 96% and no one knows how to achieve that yet
Bryan

luckat

Perhaps I'm a cynic, but I suspect that the real way to cut the TB rate in cattle would be to have a central group of vets who do nothing but test for TB.

At the moment, your local vet does it, and he's dependent on your business, especially if you're a big farmer...

Of course, a central group would still be open to bribery, but there's less leverage for bullying.

Keelan

BryanL wrote:

not quiet on the money there guys.
the only country in the world to really study this has been Ireland and it has lead the way.
the previous studies have shown TB levels in badgers to be as high as 20% and that culling badgers have drastically reduced TB levels in cattle and badgers.there have been 2 previous studies and it was extended 2 years ago to Cork and a few more counties.
the snares used to do fully close so Deer can't be caught and if any non target animal is caught it can be freed.
the report was done by badger watch Ireland and some uk badger group,Hardly objective.It was full of lies and misinterpetations.
Ideally badgers would be vacinated but immunity level need to reach 96% and no one knows how to achieve that yet
Bryan

Spot on.
I use to cull badgers, threw farm reliefe services, i was not a dept official, just a fella with a .22lr rifle, to humanely dispatch them, for the dept.
The incedence of TB in badgers, is 30% and from my experince, when i have taken out the Tb badgers, Tb has gone.
Whats needed is for the badger to be taken off the protected list, as their is too many about.

Keelan.

luckat

TB is also endemic in lots of other animals - crows, etc, etc. Maybe we should just strip the countryside of all animals.

Oh, wait, but the crows dispose of carrion and other rubbish. Hmmm. Better rethink that good idea.

BryanL

basically it was a spoof report that was brought out to coincide with the start of a cull in england.what amazed me was the coverage it got in the media,huge coverage for a report from a self interest group.
i couldn't imagine the NARGC getting the same support for finding that the best thing since sliced bread was a lump of lead for a few animals
Bryan

Clare gunner

the snares used to do fully close so Deer can't be caught and if any non target animal is caught it can be freed.
.

Thats my point .
Snare setting is an art more than science,and they should be set to kill rather than hold.I mean we have banned leg hold gin traps as cruel,so why do we use holding snares??This is where the art comes in by using a spring pole.IE a strong branch or tree to whip the target animal up and break its neck or back when it hits the snare.
Cant understand why no one uses deadfalls here.They are easy to build and insure a quick kill.
Deer in a badger snare...?? The cable for badger wont hold a deer.They are incredibly powerful critters.You can snare deer all right,but you need somthing in the line of a off road 4wd winch cable type wire.Along with a huge drag weight [100kg +]to slow them down,otherwise the bang themselves up really bad.

BryanL

crows dispose of carrion?are you a total dreamer?you may not have noticed but every remaining landfill in the country fly baloons and birds of prey daily to deter corvids.any place that handled fallen stock must ensure it's bird proof,same for domestic waste.
Crows don't carry bovine TB,Deer do and thats why Coilte has to have a detailed plan for managing the deer herds in their plantations.It's hardly acceptable to have 20% of badgers suffering or maintaining a resivoir for human disease in the wild.
Bryan

Keelan

BryanL wrote:

crows dispose of carrion?are you a total dreamer?you may not have noticed but every remaining landfill in the country fly baloons and birds of prey daily to deter corvids.any place that handled fallen stock must ensure it's bird proof,same for domestic waste.
Crows don't carry bovine TB,Deer do and thats why Coilte has to have a detailed plan for managing the deer herds in their plantations.It's hardly acceptable to have 20% of badgers suffering or maintaining a resivoir for human disease in the wild.
Bryan

I have to agree with all you are saying Bryan.
Obviously, a man who knows his stuff.

Keelan.