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9th Sea Eagle to be poisoned in Co. Kerry, Ireland! (1 Viewer)

Ptarmi

Ptarmi

Dick Glasgow
9th Eagle to be poisoned in Co. Kerry, Ireland!

Another magnificent Sea Eagle poisoned in Kerry!

I'm beginning to think that what the Irish say about the Kerry people being THICK is perhaps true, after all! :-(

"It is the ninth eagle poisoned in the sheep farming area of the Reeks which extends west of Killarney and includes the river Laune and Beaufort area. Another eagle was shot in the vicinity."

Sea Eagles Poisoned in Kerry

Sadly, it's just not possible to overestimate the stupidity of some Farmers! |:mad:|

How do we even begin to educate these Farmers?
I know some parts of rural Ireland are considered to be a wee bit backward, but these guys are behaving just like their forefathers did, back in the C19th! Have they learned NOTHING in the past 200 years?

Cheers
Dick
 
The number of reported poisonings in the UK this year is absolutely appalling, more needs to be done to stop these appalling crimes against wildlife.
 
Ptarmi said:
Another magnificent Sea Eagle poisoned in Kerry!

I'm beginning to think that what the Irish say about the Kerry people being THICK is perhaps true, after all! :-(

"It is the ninth eagle poisoned in the sheep farming area of the Reeks which extends west of Killarney and includes the river Laune and Beaufort area. Another eagle was shot in the vicinity."

Sea Eagles Poisoned in Kerry

Sadly, it's just not possible to overestimate the stupidity of some Farmers! |:mad:|

How do we even begin to educate these Farmers?
I know some parts of rural Ireland are considered to be a wee bit backward, but these guys are behaving just like their forefathers did, back in the C19th! Have they learned NOTHING in the past 200 years?

Cheers
Dick
Click to expand...

Unfortunatly the further West in Ireland one goes the level of ignorance among farmers/rural folk increases markedly - no more so then when it comes to environmental matters. These birds would probably be alot safer over Dublin given how well buzzards and Red Kites are doing around the city!!
 
The police have obviously no intention of bringing these criminals to justice, I wonder what their response would be if we were putting down poisoned fodder for the sheep ???
 
Irish Kite said:
Unfortunatly the further West in Ireland one goes the level of ignorance among farmers/rural folk increases markedly - no more so then when it comes to environmental matters. These birds would probably be alot safer over Dublin given how well buzzards and Red Kites are doing around the city!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comment Irish Kite.
I was beginning to think that Irish Birdwatchers didn't care, cause I've had this thread up in the Ireland section, with around 60 hits so far, but still nobody has been upset enough over there to comment! |:(|
 
nirofo said:
The police have obviously no intention of bringing these criminals to justice, I wonder what their response would be if we were putting down poisoned fodder for the sheep ???
Click to expand...

What makes this worse is that most of these scumbags wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for generous state/EU handouts that maintain scrawny, low grade, worthless sheep on marginal land:C
 
The obvious solution is to make eagles profitable.
If the EU, as part of the subsidies, bought a certain number of sheep at a premium price, number dependent on the resident eagle population, it would be to the farmers advantage to have eagles.
Poisoning would stop very quickly then.
 
Irish Kite said:
What makes this worse is that most of these scumbags wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for generous state/EU handouts that maintain scrawny, low grade, worthless sheep on marginal land:C
Click to expand...

It's just the same in parts of Scotland, especially in the far north, most of the croft ground is very low grade, that's why the landowners such as the Sutherland Estate let them use it, it's not fit for much else but subsidised sheep, even then it's been so overgrazed and fouled by 200 years of sheep crapping all over it nobody else would want it anyway.

nirofo.
 
etudiant said:
The obvious solution is to make eagles profitable.
If the EU, as part of the subsidies, bought a certain number of sheep at a premium price, number dependent on the resident eagle population, it would be to the farmers advantage to have eagles.
Poisoning would stop very quickly then.
Click to expand...

That is a good idea - however it requires politicians/officialdom with vision and a modicum of intelligence, qualities that appear to be absent at pretty much every level of the establishment in this country. All well illustrated by the fact that the IMF/EU have had to bail out our banana republic!!:C
 
Irish Kite said:
That is a good idea - however it requires politicians/officialdom with vision and a modicum of intelligence, qualities that appear to be absent at pretty much every level of the establishment in this country. All well illustrated by the fact that the IMF/EU have had to bail out our banana republic!!:C
Click to expand...

That just means that the conservation community has to get more actively involved.
Politicians are very sensitive to public opinion. Anything that looks like a win/win for both the farmers and the community, which can be done essentially at the stroke of a pen by altering the agricultural subsidy rules slightly, should be very easy for politicians to embrace, especially now that they've helped make such a mess. But the community first has to make it a public issue with a simple solution.
 
etudiant said:
That just means that the conservation community has to get more actively involved.
Politicians are very sensitive to public opinion. Anything that looks like a win/win for both the farmers and the community, which can be done essentially at the stroke of a pen by altering the agricultural subsidy rules slightly, should be very easy for politicians to embrace, especially now that they've helped make such a mess. But the community first has to make it a public issue with a simple solution.
Click to expand...

Not much hope there then !!!

What I can't understand is why they can't go on the dole like everbody else who doesn't have a job, if you or I don't have any work we either sign on the dole or starve. Many of the crofters openly admit crofting is more a way of life and following in their fathers footsteps than a means of stable income, why should we keep on paying them subsidies for inefficient sheep crofting. Without the subsidies, no sheep crofting, simple, tch.

nirofo.
 
Maybe the Irish government should adopt the new laws being introduced in the UK. Here now it's the landowner who is responsible for the deliberate killing of Birds of Prey not the actual perpetrator who can be very hard to catch and bring to justice.
 
nirofo said:
Not much hope there then !!!

What I can't understand is why they can't go on the dole like everbody else who doesn't have a job, if you or I don't have any work we either sign on the dole or starve. Many of the crofters openly admit crofting is more a way of life and following in their fathers footsteps than a means of stable income, why should we keep on paying them subsidies for inefficient sheep crofting. Without the subsidies, no sheep crofting, simple, tch.

nirofo.
Click to expand...

Nirofo,
That just sounds a wee bittie like 'the world would be a better place if everyone did as I said', although I'm sure you didn't quite mean it like that! I rather admire anyone who tries not to be a burden to others, even if taking up crofting is perhaps more quixotic than effective. There is also the emotive issue of depopulation of the Highlands, a long-running issue punctuated by many unsustainable projects, from shark-fishing to community industries.

Taking your argument to one form of logical conclusion, we would have to praise industrial farming's reduction of biodiversity because such development has reduced overall subsidies paid to small farmers, amongst whom are those who still follow traditional rotation methods, where hares and Grey Partridges in my part of the world abound. Without some form of subsidy to traditional farming (often less than to similar-sized farms employing heavy use of fertilisers and pesticides), 'inefficient' traditional farming could be disposed with. Simple? I think not.
My understanding of crofting (I've followed the arguments sporadically over the last half-century) is that it is much less damaging than large-scale sheep-farming in the Highlands; however, crofting in a few places has provided the opportunity of improving habitat and of protecting breeding birds. That there has been no political push to make this more widespread through education and example, is down more to the Scottish Parliament's not taking issue in a coherent way with the larger landowners. Within that context, a policy on crofting might be achievable.
Happy New Year!
MJB
 
MJB said:
Nirofo,
That just sounds a wee bittie like 'the world would be a better place if everyone did as I said', although I'm sure you didn't quite mean it like that! I rather admire anyone who tries not to be a burden to others, even if taking up crofting is perhaps more quixotic than effective. There is also the emotive issue of depopulation of the Highlands, a long-running issue punctuated by many unsustainable projects, from shark-fishing to community industries.

Taking your argument to one form of logical conclusion, we would have to praise industrial farming's reduction of biodiversity because such development has reduced overall subsidies paid to small farmers, amongst whom are those who still follow traditional rotation methods, where hares and Grey Partridges in my part of the world abound. Without some form of subsidy to traditional farming (often less than to similar-sized farms employing heavy use of fertilisers and pesticides), 'inefficient' traditional farming could be disposed with. Simple? I think not.
My understanding of crofting (I've followed the arguments sporadically over the last half-century) is that it is much less damaging than large-scale sheep-farming in the Highlands; however, crofting in a few places has provided the opportunity of improving habitat and of protecting breeding birds. That there has been no political push to make this more widespread through education and example, is down more to the Scottish Parliament's not taking issue in a coherent way with the larger landowners. Within that context, a policy on crofting might be achievable.
Happy New Year!
MJB
Click to expand...

I appreciate what you're saying, people should be able to follow the way of life that is traditional, even if it was forced upon them in the first place. Unfortunately in the far north of Scotland and elsewhere I don't doubt, the ground has become so depleted and bespoiled by sheep that it barely grows anything other than Bracken. Even after years of relentless burning of the Heather in order to bring on new grass growth, it has done nothing but destroy what was once prime breeding ground for Hen Harriers, Merlins, Short-eared Owls and other moorland breeding birds. The new grass they used as their excuse for muirburn is almost none existant, just miles of bare Heatherless moorland, with Bracken rapidly taking over the braes. Many of the crofting shepherds are only too willing to blame anything but themselves when it comes to poor returns on their flock, too many foxes, bad weather, Golden/White-tailed Eagles, not enough grass, poor subsidies. The truth is more likely to be bad husbandry on land which in truth could only realistically support very few sheep without subsidies. I have no objection to subsidies paid to crofters when they use it correctly and don't create an adverse effect on the environment and the wildlife on the land where the subsidy is to be used.

nirofo.
 
AndrewA said:
Maybe the Irish government should adopt the new laws being introduced in the UK. Here now it's the landowner who is responsible for the deliberate killing of Birds of Prey not the actual perpetrator who can be very hard to catch and bring to justice.
Click to expand...

Though this has yet to be approved by the Scottish Parliament (and is a Scotland only proposal).
 
MJB said:
Nirofo,
That just sounds a wee bittie like 'the world would be a better place if everyone did as I said', although I'm sure you didn't quite mean it like that! I rather admire anyone who tries not to be a burden to others, even if taking up crofting is perhaps more quixotic than effective. There is also the emotive issue of depopulation of the Highlands, a long-running issue punctuated by many unsustainable projects, from shark-fishing to community industries.

Taking your argument to one form of logical conclusion, we would have to praise industrial farming's reduction of biodiversity because such development has reduced overall subsidies paid to small farmers, amongst whom are those who still follow traditional rotation methods, where hares and Grey Partridges in my part of the world abound. Without some form of subsidy to traditional farming (often less than to similar-sized farms employing heavy use of fertilisers and pesticides), 'inefficient' traditional farming could be disposed with. Simple? I think not.
My understanding of crofting (I've followed the arguments sporadically over the last half-century) is that it is much less damaging than large-scale sheep-farming in the Highlands; however, crofting in a few places has provided the opportunity of improving habitat and of protecting breeding birds. That there has been no political push to make this more widespread through education and example, is down more to the Scottish Parliament's not taking issue in a coherent way with the larger landowners. Within that context, a policy on crofting might be achievable.
Happy New Year!
MJB
Click to expand...

The irony is that the recent ancestors of the the current crop of Lord Muck types that run these notorious shooting estates, were the very same ones that detroyed the crofting way of like in the highlands during the 18th/19th centuaries!!
 
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