Badger Cull.

NeilM

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I live in North Somerset, in a semi rural setting and have a badger sett no more that 50 yards from where I'm typing this.

I drive, cycle and ride my horse in some very rural areas, it is where I prefer to be, so in short I am not really a town and definitely not a city dweller and so I am having genuine difficulty understanding what all the uproar is about culling badgers.

Bovine TB kills something like 50,000 badgers a year. It can remain latent for long periods, but once symptom show, the poor badger is destined to die, pretty slowly. Cows that contract bovine TB are put down immediately, so either way an animal dies, either by slow suffocation and starvation (badger with TB) or with a bullet in the head (cow).

But the protesters don't seem bothered by large black and white animals being shot, only fluffy (cute?) smaller black and white animals.

Exactly what is all the fuss about? Are we in 'fwuffy bunny wabbit' territory, or do the protesters have a fair point.
 
This subject baffles me I must say. I'm currently jumping through some large sized bureaucratic hoops at work in respect of working near badger setts, with watching briefs from Natural England etc. so that said setts aren't disturbed and therefore the badgers don't decamp to somewhere else. I don't have a problem with this at all, they're protected animals. I have noted the damage they do, but they're big animals, but land owners (in my experience) aren't that keen on them being in situ. So that's up north. Go down south, different ball game - seek & destroy is the mantra. Seems the logic is TB and the spread thereof. Which leads me to the sole conclusion that this is down to money, insurance premiums for farmers and the loss of income / inability to sell or buy or transport livestock. I'm sure there are other details and considerations but I'd put this down to pressure from the agricultural industry. The issue must be quite serious for them if they have managed to get this up through parliament. Still baffles me though.
 
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IMO , this will have absolutely no impact on the numbers of cattle getting TB .
Unless all badgers are killed - not going to happen - then the risk is still there .
As CATTLE CAN SPREAD THE DISEASE TO WILDLIFE TOO , so could theoretically infect/re-infect the remaining badgers .
The obvious answer is to develop an immunity for the animals you can control , the cattle . I think there is one in the pipeline , but won't be available for some years yet .
As this is no good for the present time , more frequent testing must be the answer . It has been proven to reduce the numbers of infected cattle .
By killing the infected cattle , you are preventing those ones from spreading it to others in the herd .
Sounds harsh maybe , but for the greater good of the rest of the herd surely .
The NFU is not convinced as I understand it , though not sure why . Maybe hiring marksmen is cheaper than having their animals tested more frequently , and a few of them destroyed .
I'm open for correction by farmers on the front line of this situation , but this is how I see things .

Mike
 
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Farmers are compensated for each cow killed due to TB, so the cost to us, the taxpayer, is not so much the testing it is the compensation, and if farmers weren't compensated, then in places there would be no cattle industry, whether that's a good or bad thing depends if you are a carnivore or a vegetarian / vegan.

I am more puzzled by the protesters, some of whom have said that they will break the law in order to prevent the shooters doing their job.

I understand what they are objecting to, but I don't understand why.
 
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It must therefore be cheaper to get the cattle tested more frequently than they currently are . Maybe the farmers have to pay out of their own pocket that has some bearing on their reticence to do so .

I don't know what the situation is in Somerset , but in the south of the country , I get the feeling that farmers are also taking matters into their own hands .
There has been a dramatic rise in the amount of dead badgers at the side of the road since the first cull started .
Like I say , I don't believe it will be any more effective unless all are killed .
 
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I thought the culls were just in Somerset and Gloucestershire, I didn't realise they were all over the South.

I know Mendip farmers have always taken matters into their own hands, I also know some who would prefer every living thing that they have not put there killed, including foxes, when they have no vulnerable stock or game birds and birds of prey like Sparrowhawks and Buzzards, but I think a lot of that is historical.

Farmers who do not test every three months receive reduced compensation for TB positive stock, that's a new initiative, so it looks like the Govt. agree with you Mike.

Trouble is, the whole thing is chicken and egg, unless you wipe out everything and then start with a proven TB free herd of cattle, you cannot 100% be sure where the infection has come from, and perhaps this is the protesters point, I don't know, as there is too much emotive language, and not enough cold facts for me to get a grasp.
 
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There is no cull in the south , but the numbers of dead badgers dumped at the side of the road has increased , due IMO to farmers actions . Christ , I'm in line with the Gov'ment . Thanks for the warning Neil ;)
Illegal killing our native raptors still goes on , to a lesser extent . I think it's hard-wired into some of our own species to do this , when all the gamekeepers have to do is breed the game birds - bred just to be shot , fantastic ! - at a time of year when the raptors don't have young to feed .
As for foxes , they'll take whatever is on offer . If a farmer leaves his stock without protection , who exactly has he to blame if a fox takes an opportunity to try it's luck ?

Mike
 
Screw the farmers and their cattle. Was thinking of driving over to Gloucester in my balaclava. If they weren't so inbred they would be far more disease resistant.

And that goes for the cows as well.

I like badgers and foxes and rabbits and all the creatures of the woodland.
 
The History Man":paw3p8dj said:
Screw the farmers and their cattle. Was thinking of driving over to Gloucester in my balaclava. If they weren't so inbred they would be far more disease resistant.

And that goes for the cows as well.

I like badgers and foxes and rabbits and all the creatures of the woodland.

Me too , as long as they don't get stuck in my chain/seat stays ! :LOL: :LOL:
 
in wales they catch and give them a jab, if your going to catch a badger to shoot it why not just jab him. how about other wild animals do they carry tb,,,,,,seems to me badger gets blame to easily maybe its the cows moving all over the country shows etc and being sold from area to area,,,im sure experts are looking at all this but government like usual isnt taking any notice lucky you if you get to see a live badger ive only seen dead ones..who was here first the badger or the cows
 
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