I'm afraid you've either missed or misinterpreted the perfectly valid point that I was making, but your rather impolite reply means I won't bothering to indulge you further.
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The Badger Cull
- Thread starter Temple Meads
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I'm afraid you've either missed or misinterpreted the perfectly valid point that I was making, but your rather impolite reply means I won't bothering to indulge you further.
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DarloRich
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Owen Patterson is simply caving in to the powerful farming lobby. There is no justification for this, its all about maximising the amount of money in some peoples pockets. When I see the farmers on TV trying to get sympathy for the effects on their cattle - cattle they have no problem in sending for slaughter - I feel like throwing up. I wish the anti-cull poeple all the very best and with a bit of luck a gun will backfire.
Perhaps I have misunderstood but that is only because I have no idea what point you are making!
The part above, which I have highlighted in bold confuses me the most? You seem to have an issue with farmers sending their cattle for slaughter. With some clarification I might be able to understand what you mean! The rest just seems like a rambling conspiracy theory.
Not really a fair comparison there. There is a difference in someone buying foreign farm produce which is also being grown in Britain and buying things that are not readily made in Britain. Of all the big tractor companies (Massey, Duetz Fahr, John Deere, New Holland etc) the only British one I can think of is JCB.
And of course don't forget Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota along with the now foreign Mini and Vauxhall all make cars in Britian.
Regarding Badgers not being nomadic, I had permission on a farm a few years ago to control the rabbit population. There was a hillside on this farm that was full of rabbit holes, I would say in excess of 120, within four months of the breeding season May-August I returned to the farm and the farmer informed me that there were no more rabbits on the hillside, badgers had moved in from across the road (his other land) and had dug out the hillside to use as a sett. He was gutted to say the least because the badgers had now access to his entire farm, whereas previously they had stayed on the other side of the road. I'm with the cull, long overdue and to afford full protection to one species who has no natural predator left was stupid, unfortunately the countryside needs management.
Myth #7896 (sorry, wrong thread) if animals have no "natural predators" they will spread unchecked. Apart from the continuing strife between badgers and foxes (that will take badger cubs), any given population will have its size regulated by food resources and, beyond a certain density of population, disease. Of course the countryside needs management, but that should involve humans being a tad more thoughtful with their own products. The urban fox "problem", for instance, is caused as much by careless provision of food via unsecured dustbins as by some magical increase in the fox population.
I certainly agree that a mature fox IF it ever came across a small baby would and could kill it, but the fox would never enter a badger sett knowing daddy is home, lambs and small rabbits are far easier prey.
To a certain extent it's unfortunate that the countryside is clouded by issues of animal cruelty, Badger baiting is not the same as Badger Digging and when the Badger Act was brought in instead of providing farmers a means of 'fair' control it left them with nothing.
Common Sense should prevail but never does, most the farmers I know will tell you that they will happily let badgers stay on their land but they need to be able to control them, like they control Fox, Moles, Rabbits, Rats and Pigeon's and any other vermin.
Like the farmer I quoted above, he was happy for the Badgers to remain on one side of the road, soon as they moved things became problematic. I agree with whoever wrote about badgers urinating on feedstuffs, but they also urinate on the grass which cows eat, there should and could be a happy medium, I think once things elevate to a level where pop stars like Brian May get involved it becomes more a matter of principle and no-one wants to be seen as losing.
One afternoon I spent about an hour watching a fox and her four cubs mooching about in and out of their den, it was fantastic and I will remember to the day I die watching them roll about play fighting, but I was there to control them !! I asked the millionaire greedy farmer if he wants them removed now or not, he said leave them, if they start causing problems I will ring you, if they stick to killing a few rabbits I can live with that. So don't tar all farmers and pest controllers as blood thirsty murderers, all they try to do is keep a natural balance.
I wonder sometimes if the highly vocal Mr May is as happy to let Moles roam free through his vast Lawns, somehow I doubt it. !!
Am certainly no expert in TB or infectious diseases mate but from the literature I've read, I believe the disease has been around that long and passed between various animals, including cattle,deer and badgers no-one seems to know what animal had the infection first.
Certainly it's known as Bovine TB but that's because there are more cows infected than any other species,and because the cow is in the food chain, obviously that's the most important species. Chicken and egg scenario.
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