KnockerNorton
Well-known member
I always think that if you are going to artifically increase the number of prey somewhere, one mustn't be surprised when predator numbers increase accordingly, which must be treated as a bit of an occupational hazard. Pigeons to peregrines, grouse to harriers, this only happens due to man's influence, and if the industry is unviable without persecution it should be regarded as unviable full stop.
there is quite a long precedent of managing/limiting predators and pathogens for a wide variety of things. It's called farming. Grouse-shooting is effectively the farming of grouse. Just as sheep on hills is the farming of sheep. To a 'farmer', removing a bird that is harrying grouse is no different to removing a fox that is harrying lambs. That's the logic. It's just that some quarters (and I may be one, who knows) attach more value to a certain bird than a fox. You can see why some other quarters might see that as illogical.