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#1
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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? |
#2
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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them to the mainland...the authorities have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are believed to have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand total of 6 in the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.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. |
#3
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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them to the mainland...the authorities have spent a total of £26,000 to kill 66 'hogs, but these are believed to have been replaced by at least 60 baby hoglets making a grand total of 6 in the reduction - average cost per death = £4,330.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. |
#4
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'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. |
#5
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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 |
#6
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'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. |
#7
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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" |
#8
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"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. |
#9
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"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 |
#10
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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 |
#11
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"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 |
#12
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"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. |
#13
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"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 |
#14
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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 |
#15
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"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. |
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