Watch out you may stop RSPB conserving rare species as they probably use these when necessary,my guess is they will contradict me if I am wrong.They are a very important tool used in the correct way when absolutely necessary.
Sooty, I can understand your sentiments. These are not nice to see and they are banned in some countries but the problem is more about how they are misused rather than what they are. You probably know I don't agree with you about the general impact of magpies but there will be odd occasions where a population is under such threat that these tools are of benefit.
The Cotswold Water park sightings website
My Flicker page
Yes we disagree about Magpies Bob but for sure we agree these traps need to be used by the rules which of course is just the same as cars obeying the speed limit,not using mobile phones while driving and many more.
Of course many of these particularly the two above end up with the loss of life from the culprits of those practices so perhaps petitions on those are more needy of support.
Of course there are people who use these traps to simply save lots of small birds and nothing to do with shooting.
Yes used within the law and for the right reasons these can be a useful tool for conservation.Maybe the policing of thee use should be stepped up but that of course means extra manpower from somewhere.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Sorry but I think nature is far better at getting things right than man does. Our track record is not a good one.
Robert F said: Sorry but I think nature is far better at getting things right than man does. Our track record is not a good one.
Totally.
There's far too much emotion envolved with regards to Magpies, Corvids and Raptors for that matter. It pains me to see people on a so called environmental/conservation web site endorsing this kind of thing. Just because they don't fit in with your fluffy ideal of what is right or wrong (nature has no right or wrong it just is) doesn't mean a species should be persecuted. This isn't victorain Britain. Let's move on people.
I've signed. I think this kind of cruelty for any species of bird is totally unacceptable.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
I dont think any of us who have commented above are in support of or are endorsing the use of these traps. There are occasions when control is an unfortunate necessity, whether that be because a little tern colony is under attack from corvids, deer numbers destroying woodland, dogs attacking sheep, chickens under attack from a fox or where rats have managed to get into your house. It is then a question of how that might be dealt with lawfully and properly. Shooting is often used but is not 100% accurate and can cause injury, poisoning is used (often as an illegal alternative to trapping) but is indiscriminate and as a result there are occasions when the use of a trap does work.
Poison may be the worst of all as I saw somewhere that they tested Barn Owls somewhere and I found it hard to believe but it was obviously true that every one showed some poison in their system.
michael s said: Poison may be the worst of all as I saw somewhere that they tested Barn Owls somewhere and I found it hard to believe but it was obviously true that every one showed some poison in their system.
I think the figure you are looking for is 91% and is taken from the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme's research, You can read about barn owls and rodenticides here and here for a PDF from Natural England and partners on rat poison and the impact on wildlife.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.