Irish Badger persecution ,6000 snares laid a night!

by Driver Sat Jun 28, 2008 22:35

In my part of the country there are stretches of woodland along the roads from which short-sighted badgers emerge in the early hours of the morning. They freeze at the approach of vehicles and wait to be run over. Every week a smashed carcass or two of the nocturnal creatures can be found on the roads near my home. Snares aren't needed to control their numbers.

Incidentally, in the southern part of China they raise badgers on badger farms. If you visit the city of Guangzhou (Canton) you'll see badgers in steel cages at the entrance to swanky restaurants. In other cages there may be rabbits or snakes. They are waiting patiently to be ordered by discerning diners, and cooks will lift them live out of their cages and take them into the kitchen yard to be slaughtered and prepared for the pot. All these are considered delicacies by gourmets.

by Mr Man Sat Jun 28, 2008 21:55

Arthur-
"The early humans learned to share possibly warrens to survive ,that is why some people like them"

Where did you hear that? Sounds like utter nonsense. More likely they were quickly killed and eaten before they took the warren (why they wouldn't have just built gafs is a mystery). Plus, if they shared the warren, they'd probably get TB ; )

"The farmers who set snares are brainwashed dopes and would be better employed, seeking a scientific way of finding the true vector of TB "

I'm not sure farmers would make good scientists. They should leave it to people who actually learnt science.

by Arthur - Farming Sat Jun 28, 2008 21:33

Old Brock the badger has been around before Pat in the British Isles and indeed they were very usefull to the early inhabitants, this is borne out by the names of towns in Britain like Brokenhurst Brokely etc named after them. The early humans learned to share possibly warrens to survive ,that is why some people like them and are prepared to stand up to the cullers. The farmers who set snares are brainwashed dopes and would be better employed, seeking a scientific way of finding the true vector of TB and be mindfull that the night is moving with other relations of the badger. If the badger is found to be the source of TB then they could be baited with streptomycin that was used to treat TB in humans. Anyone who is deliberately cruel to a biological creature, should be advised that there is an unseen hand in life that may visit them or theirs when they least expect it, call it Solons warning, the Heisnberg principal or a degree of randomness out there that could tap them on the shoulder with a problem and then they would be asking themselves "what have I done to deserve this"? One thing I can guarentee is that if we live and let live we will be no poorer for it in ways thet matter.
Regards

by Dog Owner Sat Jun 28, 2008 18:44

The badger snare is a bloody disgrace. My sheepdog went missing for three days , I thought he was after running away to chase a bitch on heat or something. I went looking for him around the woods at the bottom of my road and heard a whimpering noise coming from the ditch. I saw what looked like a brown and white football wrapped up in a fence. When I went over to it I saw to my horror that it was indeed my dog , wrapped so tighly in barbed wire he was just a tight ball of hair and wire. With wire cutters I eventually cut him out to find that he had got trapped in a badger snare which had in turn been attached to a barbed wire fence. One more night and he would surely have been dead. He had bee badly savaged by wild animlas as he lay there snared. I know i would happily kill the bastard "farmer" who set that snare if I got the chance.

by lulu Sat Jun 28, 2008 14:05

Is there any evidence that the killing of badgers has reduced the incidence of TB?