The Badger Cull

[OldTrapCollector 376]

 

 

Thats if you dig them, but even then, you need to dig the entire set up because they live in chambers, unlike foxes which live in a dead end tunnel. Shooting them is not always going to remove the whole family group. They hear one or two shots and hit the deck. Then you cant take any more out. Like I said, theres no perfect method, only the most effective. Interestingly, the BBC program the burrowers is offering a huge insight to how rabbits, moles, and badgers live. Know your enemy.

Atb, BB

 

Really?? Do you believe everything you read in BBC Wildlife magazine??

Edited August 28, 2013 by OldTrapCollector

[raymond1 262]

What`s your views on this Badger Cull thats taking place in one or two shires.

There seems to be trouble brewing by the Anti Brigade who oppose the Kill but the Farmers in the UK had to destroy 350,000 cattle over the past decade, that`s 35000 each year. This isn`t covered by insurance and is a direct loss to the farmer.

 

The bovine TB is passed from the Badger to the Cattle through the badgers urinating onto grass which the cattle eat.

 

 

The farming Industry is trying hard to eradicate the disease but claim without tackling the TB in badgers it would be pointless.

 

Which makes sense to me, whats your views ?

 

 

with no effective vaccine available to immunize cattle for at least the next 10 years and no way to vaccinate with 100% certainty all the badgers in a given area, then a cull is the only logical option but it would have been far simpler and cheaper to have just removed there protected status and leave individual farmers to deal with it at local level. instead of a whole boatload of red tape and publicity.

and when they start to shoot keep going until they clear the whole country of the fecking vermin , then start giving the lefty's a slap

[Tiercel 6,986]

They do live in family groupes, but what happens is, when the males get to breeding age they are cast out of the set to find their own place. Once established in an old rabbit warren in new territory he can then try and attract new females, sometimes he does and the set and the family grows. Sometimes he does not and he either moves on or dies?

 

All the above is just conjecture based on my observations over the last 45 years. I have seen rabbit warrens taken over and dug out by badgers many a time, some are now big badger sets, others though are still rabbit warrens with a few big badgery looking holes with no badgers in residence.

 

One thing I would like to ask about the BBc show, if the badgers had been underground for 3 weeks as they stated where did they feed? If they were being fed then the whole episode is flawed as they were artificially providing for the family. Ergo the badgers were not acting natuarally.

 

TC

Edited August 28, 2013 by tiercel

[paulus 26]

They do live in family groupes, but what happens is, when the males get to breeding age they are cast out of the set to find their own place. Once established in an old rabbit warren in new territory he can then try and attract new females, sometimes he does and the set and the family grows. Sometimes he does not and he either moves on or dies?

 

All the above is just conjecture based on my observations over the last 45 years. I have seen rabbit warrens taken over and dug out by badgers many a time, some are now big badger sets, others though are still rabbit warrens with a few big badgery looking holes with no badgers in residence. is

 

One thing I would like to ask about the BBc show, if the badgers had been underground for 3 weeks as they stated where did they feed? If they were being fed then the whole episode is flawed as they were artificially providing for the family. Ergo the badgers were not acting natuarally.

 

TC

are you suggesting the good old BBC is biased in any way

[Guest norseman]

out of curiosity what method of culling is being carried out? no terriers?

[lapin2008 1,587]

out of curiosity what method of culling is being carried out? no terriers?

.243 and above

[shovel leaner 7,648]

The whole cull is going to fail !!!! I know some of the "marksmen" involved and they are guys who signed up for it because they dont have much shooting permission !! One is a plumber , the other a factory worker , with little experience !!! I shoot at night on land with a lot of badgers . Some nights you see a lot , {when its raining and they are out after slugs , worms and snails} but on the whole i dont see them all that often . To be a success the guys are going to have to be out all night for weeks !!! Farmers should be allowed to deal with them as they see fit , in my area the cattle have not had a reactor for about 7 years , so the badgers are clean , you would leave them alone , because if you killed them dirty ones could move in ! In my opinion if the cull is to be a success then the setts should be Cymaged and mop up the rest with a rifle . But when did the goverment ever ask people who dont have a university degree but actually know what they are talking about ! And before anyone says , yes i know cymag is banned , but im sure that DEFRA could get some .

[raymond1 262]

The whole cull is going to fail !!!! I know some of the "marksmen" involved and they are guys who signed up for it because they dont have much shooting permission !! One is a plumber , the other a factory worker , with little experience !!! I shoot at night on land with a lot of badgers . Some nights you see a lot , {when its raining and they are out after slugs , worms and snails} but on the whole i dont see them all that often . To be a success the guys are going to have to be out all night for weeks !!! Farmers should be allowed to deal with them as they see fit , in my area the cattle have not had a reactor for about 7 years , so the badgers are clean , you would leave them alone , because if you killed them dirty ones could move in ! In my opinion if the cull is to be a success then the setts should be Cymaged and mop up the rest with a rifle . But when did the goverment ever ask people who dont have a university degree but actually know what they are talking about ! And before anyone says , yes i know cymag is banned , but im sure that DEFRA could get some .

that should be repeated over the entire country

[paulus 26]

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Cull conflict

(This post has been updated)

As two small pilot badger culls get underway in Somerset and Gloucestershire, the airwaves are full with pictures of badgerists holding vigils and farmers showing off their prime cattle - still alive at the moment.

Dear old Krebs has been wheeled out again, spluttering that the pilot shooting party idea is 'insane'. And he could well be right. But how much more insane was the political tweaking of his original very well thought out project by a diminutive professor, who was sooooo proud to identify his puppeteers?

All this current discord is a predictable spin off from the mathematical models produced by Professor Bourne's RBCTBadger Dispersal Trial team. Their base 'rough assumptions' and 'estimates' projected up, up and away and grabbed eagerly by Defra's mandarins as an excuse for inaction.

Historical veterinary data was available. It was not used. Epidemiological information about this bacterium and how it performs in various situations has been known for over a century. That was ignored.
Job creation has flourished, as both badgers, cattle and now many other mammals have died - from one of the most deadly zoonoses on this planet. Tuberculosis.

This argument or polemic should never be about badgers or cattle. It is about an international statute to protect humans from tuberculosis. And that is the point.

The more infected badgers around, the more Defra's heap of skin tested sentinel cattle reactors has grown.

Our chart shows the various loosening up of badger controls over decades of non-strategy and the inevitable rise in cattle slaughtering. In 1997 a moratorium was placed on Section 10 (2) (a) of the Protection of Badgers Act . And in answer to Owen Paterson's Parliamentary Questions almost a decade ago:

Under section 10 (2) (a) - to prevent the spread of disease: "It is current policy not to issue any licenses under sub section 10 (2) (a) to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis, except for animals held in captivity."

And since that moratorium on Section 10(2)a) (purchased in 1997 with Political Animal Lobby cash) we have culled no badgers 'to prevent the spread of disease' , except a very few in the RBCT, the operating protocol of which ensured not the control of Zoonotic tuberculosis, but its spread.


Defra has studiously ignored its own dead sentinels while piling more insults and restrictions on their owners.


The inevitable result is more upspill of zoonotic tuberculosis into other mammals (alpacas, sheep, pigs, and especially cats and dogs) despite valiant attempts by the AHVLA carcase counters to dumb down their own true figures. Which means more opportunities for transmission of zoonotic tuberculosis to the owners of these animals. And that's without mentioning direct contact with detritus of infected badgers, marking children's play areas or domestic gardens.

And that is the reason for culling badgers.

For the future, to quote a timely and iconic statement, we have a dream. We would like Krebs' original prediction of PCR diagnostics to 'identify infected badger setts within 2 years' to be brought to fruition. No more mathematically modeled plots with indiscriminate population reduction overseen by a quango which has made no secret of its opposition to culling badgers for any reason at all.

And we support targeted underground culls based on the presence of disease.

Thus cattle farmers can see a badger and appreciate his stripey face, without that sinking feeling of expectation of the inevitable cattle reactors at the next TB test.

Edit: An addition to this piece from today's Farmers Guardian online, where opposition spokesperson and MP for inner city Wakefield, the fragrant Mary Creagh, hinted at plans to abandon badger control, should her party gain power in 2015.

Allowing for a couple of 'off' periods where badgers rear more cubs than have been culled, that's about a year away. So we better get on with Plan B hadn't we?

[taz2010 1,297]

when there was no ban there was none of this bullshit, goodie to shoes who knows f--k all of the country side,thats why these antis don't own farms,get on with the cull and we will see the results

[C Hall 552]

There numbers in some areas of the country are out of control with no natural predators to do the job some needed culling anyway thats without the need to do it to stop them spreading TB!

Edited August 29, 2013 by C Hall

[paulus 26]

Millions of badger refugees flood across Welsh border

Sections of the M5 and the Severn Bridge were shut last night as thousands of badger refugees fled in convoy from villages in Gloucestershire and Somerset over the border to Wales.

Badgers from both counties began to flee following the news that armed Government agents were advancing deep into their territory to perform a 70% cull.

Whole badger families took to the roads as the threat of persecution and genocide escalated. Mothers and fathers comforted their young through driving rain as the procession advanced towards the Welsh border. Carrying white flags they ignored demands from angry toll booth operators for their crossing fees. Some badgers spoke of older and infirm badgers succumbing to the wheels of impatient juggernauts or simply lying down exhausted on the hard shoulder.

Michaelwood Service Station was reported to be besieged as angry badgers queued and clawed for provisions in a desperate bid to fuel their journey towards the Welsh border. Starbucks denied that they were cashing in on the crisis by adding 25% to a standard cappucino.

In a response to the situation David Heath, the Agriculture Minister, refuted suggestions that the Government was creating a politically sensitive cross-border situation. ‘I would like to reassure the little black-and-white creatures which everybody loves, that they are not all under threat,’ he said. ‘Nobody wants to see a single badger killed, however we do promise to perform a clean kill for hundreds more and, on this basis we urge the nation’s favourite wild creatures to return to their homes.’

A spokesman for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said, ‘We are extremely worried. If badgers want to flee the county because they feel persecuted, they should have the right to do that. The Security Council is taking a very close interest in the welfare of British badgers and will be holding an ineffective and unresolvable emergency session about the British government’s crimes against badgers.’

A spokesbadger from Dark Wood in Somerset described the precarious and violent situation inside the county. ‘This is a very worrying time for badgers but one which we shall overcome. We are an enduring lot, and we may move out for a time, but we wait, and are patient, and back we come. And so it will ever be. Snuffle snuffle.’

Meanwhile gift shops across Somerset are worried that, despite an increase in supplies public opinion will create a decline in the sale of souvenir shaving brushes and badger tail key rings.

[paulus 26]

[Bunny Boiler 177]

Bunny Boiler you should change your name to bunny hugger

 

I'm not saying don't kill them! I'm saying that for controlling TB there is never going to be a perfect solution. If there was no TB and you were killing to prevent damage caused by the fuckers, just wipe them out as you wish! They become giant rabbits at that point (bit more aggressive though...). This post was in relation to TB and the cattle involved.

 

Atb,

BB

[air gun ant 1,666]

WTF! lol wish i could have the sound on at work lol