Fishermen who hunt (shoot)

[Worms]

Which subspecies are these?

Exactly it just goes to show my point! I'd guess at Larus argentatus argenteus due to the amount of white in the wingtips but I couldn't be sure which one of the four subspecies they are from a distant photo' without place date or other info! It just goes to show the delicacy with which these protection legislation orders are made. Shoot a Larus argentatus argentatus, no problem. Shoot a Larus argentatus argenteus, big problem! The first is not endangered, the second is red databook listed!

 

This 'splitting', taxonomically speaking, particularly of birds is, to me, a bit daft. Try explaining that in a courtroom when you're up for shooting an IUCN red databook listed species!

 

I suspect that in real terms they will apply the legislation to the Herring gull 'species complex'. Not a problem though is it?

 

Note what the birds in the photo' are eating......carefully packaged waste left where animals can't get at it...Humans, bl@@dy arseholes!

[Jim Roper]

What about the Lesser Blackback?

[Worms]

What about the Lesser Blackback?

Still amber listed and still under general licences 5, 7 and 8 as far as I'm aware. A bit odd really with fewer breeding pairs in the UK than herring gull!

[Jim Roper]

Still amber listed and still under general licences 5, 7 and 8 as far as I'm aware. A bit odd really with fewer breeding pairs in the UK than herring gull!

 

But a Lesser Blackback and a Herring Gull are both subspecies of the same bird, having evolved in different directions from the Bering Strait, so I have been informed.

[wayne baker]

I'm going to shoot whichever cat keeps crapping in my back garden if I ever catch it. TWICE, this week, I've stood in it...and it's only Tuesday!!

Elton best way to stop cats dumping in your garden is to get a cat of your own. They wont do their business in their own yard just everyone else's. And they keep the others away.

[andy_youngs]

But a Lesser Blackback and a Herring Gull are both subspecies of the same bird, having evolved in different directions from the Bering Strait, so I have been informed.

Jim, sorry if this is percieved as a controversial question but what's the current state of play with cormorants in the UK? I manage a lake where they're doing considerable damage, and it's annoying as hell.

Newt, ok, so the authorities license various forms of hunting where you are, but what about pest control? do you have beaver, otter and mink on the river, and if so, are they controlled?

[andy_youngs]

best way to stop cats dumping in your garden is to get a cat of your own. They wont do their business in their own yard just everyone else's. And they keep the others away.

Yep, they're very terretorial. Simply will not tolerate each other ....

[Newt]

Newt, ok, so the authorities license various forms of hunting where you are, but what about pest control? do you have beaver, otter and mink on the river, and if so, are they controlled?

Trapping is allowed and licensed in most States - maybe all but I'm not sure about that.

 

Here are the rules in Nebraska and they are fairly typical. This page covers beaver but has links to the other species. It isn't considered pest control though.

 

http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/hunting/guides...r/TM-beaver.asp

[andy_youngs]

Trapping is allowed and licensed in most States - maybe all but I'm not sure about that.

 

Here are the rules in Nebraska and they are fairly typical. This page covers beaver but has links to the other species. It isn't considered pest control though.

 

http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/hunting/guides...r/TM-beaver.asp

Interesting stuff Newt. If it's not pest control then how do most people percieve it? Harvesting fur?

 

Also, what about the critters in your neighbourhood ... what's the ecology like on your local river?

Edited November 7, 2009 by andy_youngs

[Newt]

Pelts are worth money so trappers do it for profit.

 

It may be just a matter of more room and lower people-density here than in the UK but I can't remember seeing any places where your pests were anything other than just critters here except in a few special situations.

 

Rice farmers dislike muskrats since they damage the levies that allow the paddies to be flooded for instance. Many of the cattle raising western states had bounties on coyotes for a while due to (usually massively overblown) concerns about livestock predation.