hedgehogs
 

Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs! As I live
in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would any organisation
lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please help?

Helen wrote:
:: Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs!
:: As I live in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would
:: any organisation lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please
:: help?

I presume you mean this:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?...2&id=735662003
The 'hogs are eating the eggs of endangered birds, but the conservationists
'rescued' about 200 of them and moved them to the mainland...the authorities
have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are believed to
have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand total of 6 in
the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.
It's been grinding on for a few years now but is proving to be a severe
headache for those involved as the astronomical costs continue to mount up.

What a horrible situation! Killing hedgegogs is terrible; but so is the
eating of endangered birds' eggs! I suppose the only thing is to try and
move the 'hogs to an area where there are no endangered species.
"Phil L" wrote in message
...
Helen wrote:
:: Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs!
:: As I live in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would
:: any organisation lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please
:: help?

I presume you mean this:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?...2&id=735662003
The 'hogs are eating the eggs of endangered birds, but the
conservationists
'rescued' about 200 of them and moved them to the mainland...the
authorities
have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are believed to
have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand total of 6
in
the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.
It's been grinding on for a few years now but is proving to be a severe
headache for those involved as the astronomical costs continue to mount
up.

'Helen',

Your best way to get an understanding of what is going on is to go to
www.goole.com and search using: hedgehog cull and read the many
sites on this subject.

About two years ago I volunteered to have one of the hedgehogs
concerned, but I heard no more probably because I live near to a road to
which the hedgehog would have access.

I feed a hedgehog nightly, have done so for many many years and like you
I am concerned as to what is happening to them on this island in
Scotland.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.






"Helen" wrote in message
...
What a horrible situation! Killing hedgegogs is terrible; but so is
the
eating of endangered birds' eggs! I suppose the only thing is to try
and
move the 'hogs to an area where there are no endangered species.
"Phil L" wrote in message
...
Helen wrote:
:: Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of
hedgehogs!
:: As I live in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would
:: any organisation lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone
please
:: help?

I presume you mean this:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?...2&id=735662003
The 'hogs are eating the eggs of endangered birds, but the
conservationists
'rescued' about 200 of them and moved them to the mainland...the
authorities
have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are
believed to
have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand total
of 6
in
the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.
It's been grinding on for a few years now but is proving to be a
severe
headache for those involved as the astronomical costs continue to
mount
up.

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 09:05:45 +1000, "Helen" wrote:

What a horrible situation! Killing hedgegogs is terrible; but so is the
eating of endangered birds' eggs! I suppose the only thing is to try and
move the 'hogs to an area where there are no endangered species.
"Phil L" wrote in message
...
Helen wrote:
:: Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs!
:: As I live in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would
:: any organisation lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please
:: help?

I presume you mean this:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?...2&id=735662003
The 'hogs are eating the eggs of endangered birds, but the
conservationists
'rescued' about 200 of them and moved them to the mainland...the
authorities
have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are believed to
have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand total of 6
in
the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.
It's been grinding on for a few years now but is proving to be a severe
headache for those involved as the astronomical costs continue to mount
up.



It's a catch 22 situation but I know several people who would have
homed hedgehogs if the had a chance.
Temprance

'Helen',

I meant www.google.com. Sorry about that little typing error.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.




"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...
'Helen',

Your best way to get an understanding of what is going on is to go to
www.goole.com and search using: hedgehog cull and read the many
sites on this subject.

About two years ago I volunteered to have one of the hedgehogs
concerned, but I heard no more probably because I live near to a road
to
which the hedgehog would have access.

I feed a hedgehog nightly, have done so for many many years and like
you
I am concerned as to what is happening to them on this island in
Scotland.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.






"Helen" wrote in message
...
What a horrible situation! Killing hedgegogs is terrible; but so is
the
eating of endangered birds' eggs! I suppose the only thing is to try
and
move the 'hogs to an area where there are no endangered species.
"Phil L" wrote in message
...
Helen wrote:
:: Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of
hedgehogs!
:: As I live in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why
would
:: any organisation lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone
please
:: help?

I presume you mean this:
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?...2&id=735662003
The 'hogs are eating the eggs of endangered birds, but the
conservationists
'rescued' about 200 of them and moved them to the mainland...the
authorities
have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are
believed to
have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand
total
of 6
in
the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.
It's been grinding on for a few years now but is proving to be a
severe
headache for those involved as the astronomical costs continue to
mount
up.

In article , Helen
writes
Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs! As I live
in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would any organisation
lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please help?

I presume this refers to N Uist, which is a small island off the W Coast
of Scotland and a haven for ground nesting birds. Until a few years ago,
there were no hedgehogs. Then they were introduced, allegedly by a
gardener wishing to control slugs.

Some naturalists believe that the introduced hedgehogs are taking eggs
from nests on the ground and causing a population decline in the
indigenous birds and therefore need to be removed.

Some naturalists believe that capturing the hedgehogs and releasing them
on the mainland would merely sentence them to a slow death from
unaccustomed parasites or a messy death on the busy roads that they're
not used to.

Hence the cull.

I'm not sure why you're so incredulous - you have had more than enough
trouble with introduced species threatening your native wildlife, have
you not?



--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Helen" wrote in message
...
Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs! As I
live
in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would any organisation
lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please help?



RSPB stands for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It was
founded a hundred years or so ago as a society trying to protect some birds
from the consequences of overexploitation for feathers for fashion purposes.
However, it has grown significantly, and is now a large organisation, with
charitable status and a couple of million members, dedicated to the
conservation of wild birds and their habitats. As such, it has,
understandably, developed considerable skill, expertise and 'muscle' in the
area of manipulation of politicians and quangos to help achieve its
preferred conservation ends.

The machair of the western islands in question is host to breeding
populations of wading birds of considerable European significance, and the
UK Government is signed up to initiatives requiring them to protect the
habitat frequented by those birds. Scottish National Heritage (SNH) is the
quango with the duty to comply with the protection requirement.

Some of the populations of wading birds have been declining over the past
few decades, and there is a correlation with the spread of hedgehogs onto
the islands. Although the hedgehogs are native to Europe, and to Scotland,
there have been none present on these islands in recent historical times,
although it is not clear whether any have existed there since the last ice
age (one of the tests of 'nativeness'). The present population is believed
to descend from escapees of a handful brought into the islands in the 1970s
by gardeners seeking an 'organic' control of slugs and other garden pests.
It is possible that others may have been introduced accidentally, e.g. in
fodder bales.

The Isles are a very good habitat for hedgehogs, with plentiful food, few
roads and few natural predators. The hedgehogs have exploited this and
spread rapidly, some of them, of course, foraging onto the machair.

Research carried out by the Uist Wader Group (a sort of joint RSPB/SNH task
force) suggested that hedgehogs may be responsible for some predation of
nests of some of the waders, and hedgehogs were excluded from some trial
areas by means of fencing. It was found that breeding success of some (but
not all) wader species increased significantly in the areas from which
hedgehogs were excluded, and this is generally accepted as evidence that
hedgehogs were a contributory factor to the observed declines.

Hence, SNH, prompted quite legitimately by RSPB, concluded it was obliged to
act to protect the machair and the wader populations by exclusion of the
hedgehogs from the vulnerable areas. It further concluded that methods like
fencing were impracticable, and that the best option was the elimination of
the hedgehog population. Uist wader group had recommended that a pilot study
should be set up to investigate the feasibility of translocation of
hedgehogs to the mainland, but SNH decided not to bother with that, on the
grounds that translocation was less humane than extermination.

They have therefore set up a scheme whereby hedgehogs are trapped, and then
euthanised by lethal injection. The trapping season is extremely limited,
because it is difficult to tell whether trapped animals have dependent
litters, and it would of course be inhumane to destroy a mother and leave
the litter to starve. Obviously, then, it is going to take a very very long
time to eliminate the hedgehogs by the method chosen.

There are numerous organisations in the UK devoted to the welfare of the
hedgehog, the UK's only spiny mammal, and they have set up a rival scheme
whereby locals are paid to bring in captured hedgehogs, which are placed in
a translocation programme, i.e. released live in suitable locations on
mainland UK.

So, summarising, there is general agreement that the hedgehog populations on
these remote islands need to be managed to help conserve the populations of
some wading birds, but there is disagreement on the means best suited to
achieve that objective. RSPB/SNH want them killed, just as rats and mink are
exterminated, whereas hedgehog welfare organisations, quite understandably,
prefer translocation, a technique they have employed for many years in
respect of thousands of displaced and distressed hedgehogs.

"Helen" wrote in message
...
Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs!
As I live
in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would any
organisation
lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please help?

RSPB = Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Uist, one of the Hebridean islands, has a population of a number of
rare ground breeding waders which is of international importance. The
future of these birds is uncertain, due to egg predation by the
hedgehogs
The RSPB and Scottish National Heritage did not lightly come to the
decision to conduct a hedgehog cull.
There has been a strong opposition to these plans from circles which
appear not to have much understanding of the management of animal
reserves.
There is no doubt that the hedgehogs are indeed a pest in Uist. The
problem is that they are frequently thought of as being cute little
animals, in the same way as I think of a rat as being a cute little
animal.
The situation is somewhat similar to that which prevailed in Marion
Island some time ago. Marion's bird population was slowly being
eradicated by a feral cat population. The situation became so bad
that the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
had to employ a full time sharpshooter to find and kill every cat on
the island. That cull worked, and the bird population was saved from
that danger.

So far, the Uist cull unfortunately seems not to have been successful.
The problem is that either the cullers cannot count the hedgehogs, or
they breed faster than they can be removed.

Franz

i remember being told of placing a hedgehog in clay, placing in an open fire
and cooking by one of my primary teachers. Does it work and what's the
recepie?

roy

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Helen" wrote in message
...
Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs!
As I live
in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would any
organisation
lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please help?

RSPB = Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Uist, one of the Hebridean islands, has a population of a number of
rare ground breeding waders which is of international importance.
The
future of these birds is uncertain, due to egg predation by the
hedgehogs
The RSPB and Scottish National Heritage did not lightly come to the
decision to conduct a hedgehog cull.
There has been a strong opposition to these plans from circles which
appear not to have much understanding of the management of animal
reserves.
There is no doubt that the hedgehogs are indeed a pest in Uist. The
problem is that they are frequently thought of as being cute little
animals, in the same way as I think of a rat as being a cute little
animal.
The situation is somewhat similar to that which prevailed in Marion
Island some time ago. Marion's bird population was slowly being
eradicated by a feral cat population. The situation became so bad
that the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research
had to employ a full time sharpshooter to find and kill every cat on
the island. That cull worked, and the bird population was saved
from
that danger.

So far, the Uist cull unfortunately seems not to have been
successful.
The problem is that either the cullers cannot count the hedgehogs,
or
they breed faster than they can be removed.

After having read Malcolm's post of today and looked at the link he
gave, I am happy to cocede that I am out of date and that the culls
have been more successful than I thought.

Franz

"misterroy" wrote in message
...
i remember being told of placing a hedgehog in clay, placing in an open
fire
and cooking by one of my primary teachers. Does it work and what's the
recepie?
You are talking about the Romany way of cooking 'hotchi'.
My late father had cooked and eaten this. You take a dead hedgepig, cover
thickly in clay, and bake in a hole filled with charcoal for a certain time.
When it is done, you peel off the clay and the spines come out with the
clay.
I have an aversion to eating any other carnivorous animal so have never
tried it myself. But I guess my Rom' blood has been well and truly diluted
so I can excuse myself :0)
I still have some habits which originate from my forebears though which I
tend to adhere to.

"GOOD GOLLY MISS mOLLY" wrote in message
...

"misterroy" wrote in message
...
i remember being told of placing a hedgehog in clay, placing in an open
fire
and cooking by one of my primary teachers. Does it work and what's the
recepie?
You are talking about the Romany way of cooking 'hotchi'.
My late father had cooked and eaten this. You take a dead hedgepig, cover
thickly in clay, and bake in a hole filled with charcoal for a certain
time.
When it is done, you peel off the clay and the spines come out with the
clay.
I have an aversion to eating any other carnivorous animal so have never
tried it myself. But I guess my Rom' blood has been well and truly diluted
so I can excuse myself :0)
I still have some habits which originate from my forebears though which I
tend to adhere to.



Offering to tarmac people's drives or sell them 'lucky' heather?

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Helen wrote:
Couldn't believe my eyes to read about the slaughter of hedgehogs! As I live
in OZ, I'm not sure of what RSPB stands for. Why would any organisation
lead a slaughter of hedgehogs? Can someone please help?



Because they are destroying the eggs of birds, some of them endangered.
There is an organised cull going on.

Jason

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"GOOD GOLLY MISS mOLLY" wrote in
message
...

"misterroy" wrote in message
...
i remember being told of placing a hedgehog in clay, placing in an
open
fire
and cooking by one of my primary teachers. Does it work and what's the
recepie?
You are talking about the Romany way of cooking 'hotchi'.
My late father had cooked and eaten this. You take a dead hedgepig,
cover
thickly in clay, and bake in a hole filled with charcoal for a certain
time.
When it is done, you peel off the clay and the spines come out with the
clay.
I have an aversion to eating any other carnivorous animal so have never
tried it myself. But I guess my Rom' blood has been well and truly
diluted
so I can excuse myself :0)
I still have some habits which originate from my forebears though which
I
tend to adhere to.



Offering to tarmac people's drives or sell them 'lucky' heather?

Lol no. Drive tarmacing is simply a way to make dosh.
Seling lucky heather, pegs, and the like is not suspect or illegal or
anything else. Simply they use what they can to sell to make a little money.
Or at least that's the way it used to be in the olden days.