It might have been a stick insect...
I saw my first ducklings on wednesday, aah!
It might have been a stick insect...
I saw my first ducklings on wednesday, aah!
Deffo not a stick insect, must check out his PJ's next time.
Weasel is weasily distinguishable from the Stoat which is stotally different.Originally Posted by Grouse
Found a trap the other day which I think was set for weasels or stoats; I sprung it but what does anyone think about that - I know there must be good arguments for trapping them especially at nesting time?
Yeah, don't want weasels and stoats eating young grouse or pheasants, or dogs disturbing them. Much better to blast them out of the sky with a shotgun!
I have mixed feelings on this; if it wasn't for the shooting, we wouldn't have the moors. And it is a much better option than battery farming. It's just the controlling of all other wildlife and activity for the benefit of the birds I sometimes feel is a bit unbalanced.
Why wouldn't we have the moors if it wasn't for the shooting?
Because most of it would be over-run with bracken and other scrub vegetation. No-one is going to protect the moors unless they have a vested interest in doing so, I'm afraid. That'd be landowners and shooty types, as far as the moors are concerned.
I think Ilkley moor was in danger of being covered by bracken once Bradford Council banned shooting. Now they've allowed it again, people have a reason to maintain the moorland environment, and so are doing.
I'm not judging wether it's a bad or good thing, just pointing out that without vested interests protecting the moorland environment, it would probably disappear if left to it's own 'natural' devices.
Like the old aristocracy used to protect the forests for hunting, shipbuilding timber, etc.
The moor will still be there despite "vested interests".
What you mean to say is that the use of the moor for grouse rearing and shooting or for sheep farming would not exisit.
The moor could be maintained in better shape if it is left to it's own 'natural' devices'.
What I'm getting at is that if left to it's own devices, it would lose the characteristics of the 'moors' that we presently know and love - all the heather and stuff. It would very soon be overrun with bracken, hawthorn and scrub vegetation; In a sense our moors are an artificial environment, created for a specific purpose. The rearing of grouse. Many other birds benefit, but basically without those vested interests, you'd lose them. No one will pay for their maintainance out of goodwill.
It's much the same with other environments, chalk downland springs to mind. without sheep grazing, and cows being used to keep vegetation down, we'd lose all that as well.
Don't forget the vast majority of Britain was woodland, probably what it would return to if left alone by man.
Too true PB. Yes the moors would still be there, but the Northern Peak District in particular, would be hard to move accross without the heather & bracken being controlled.
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