Bager cull

[tracy]

Sadly is looks like the badger cull in Wales is going ahead.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8622873.stm

[Henrietta]

Yes Tracy, a very disappointing decision.

[woodbodger]

How is this badger cull going to work? Our woods are a mile away from where the badger cull ends and they are teaming with badgers, lots of sets, so surely in the fullness of time the young from my woods can go out and colonize the newly vacant sets in the cull area. Of course snuffling around through the grass they will come across snot from tb infected cattle and around everything goes.

[Henrietta]

All the time cattle are moved from one end of the country to the other, the bovine tb problem will persist and the the badgers will continue to be the scapegoats.

[tracy]

I watched a brilliant film about this - if we kill all the badgers - healthy included, then sick badgers will move in to all the empty sets. What farmers want is healthy badgers on their land to keep the sick ones out. We need to be killing all the poor sick badgers.

I know I know every little really about all of this -but I do hope that this doesn't go ahead. I am trying to find out if the cull people have legal access to your land. Anyone know?

[Exeldama]

I picked up a sub adult badger yesterday that had been fighting with others. This cull is plain stupid and politically motivated to keep farmers happy.

As said if you cull yet the enviroment is still present , a new group will establish centered upon the batchelors such as the one that i picked up which would otherwise succumb without a territory, in fact long term you may actually weaken the species by replacing obstensibly genetically superior badgers with inferior ones.

Man seems unable to resist interfering.

There is plenty of evidence that cattle in areas with unaffected badgers populations still have TB. and its probably that the badgers got it from the cattle to start with anyway. Its the same with Foxes and mange.. years ago wild populations very rarely had mange but since they have come into contact with domestic dogs the urban populations are getting hammered by it.. ie its dogs that started it off.

There was talk of vaccinating more wildely but it seems economics and politics win badgers lose.

[jillybean]

I went to a meeting at the the east Kent Badger group, If the Tories get in they will approve the cull in England and lift the Ban on foxhunting.

[Exeldama]

dont get me started on foxhunting. There is not one single argument that holds up except tradition. If you have a prob shoot it , clean, humane done.

[Henrietta]

Cameron has been on fox hunts.

[Keith Williams]

Arguments for foxhunting - If farmers / landowners hunt they will maintain hedges, copses etc to enable hunting. If they have no interest, barbed wire replaces hedges, foxes wiped out. I like foxes but do support hunting, while understanding peoples aversion.