Who is eating my trees?

[James M]

That second pic to me also looks like hare damage. but if you've seen a deer doing it, then deer are creatures of habit - it will keep coming back and keep trying to find a way in.

Your options are limited.

[Darren]

It's a young roe deer getting in. The logs around the fence seem to be working. We have our first bee hive in there now hopefully that we put them off as well.

[Rod Taylor]

Thanks for the tip Darren. Had left a gap at bottom as advised by a coppice group as" otherwise rabbits just chew through" Handn't considered Deer going under. Had used 3 wires with bottom around 12 inches from ground but more in dips. Will definitely lay more logs along fence line before our Deer learn bad habits.

[tracy]

Martin has sent in a picture with some tree damage and he has questions too.

http://www.swog.org.uk/articles/who-has-been-eating-my-tree-part-2-by-martin/

Any thoughts?

[jillybean]

Hi Martin, sorry to see the picture of your tree. I have a similar problem. I know shooters carry their own insurance, and should be happy to prove this to you and give you a little contract to sign, saying what , when and how they will shoot. Rabbits seem to need constant control, unless you can foster the services of a fox. My trees show extensive damage over the years, but seem to survive. Reading the Tracking thread, i wonder if you left your scent by the trees you would put them off?

[James M]

This article covers some of the issues about having shooters on your land:

http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/practical-guides/deer-stalking-and-woodlands/

Shooters do NOT need to have insurance by law, except if they use 'approved ranges' e.g. the ones the MOD use, but they'd be daft not to.

Generally, I'd say it's not worth the bother - better to secure training and do the job yourself if you think it needs doing. If had a big rabbit problem I'd be happy to use a local ferreter instead.

HTH

[Catweazle]

Martin, what area are you in ?

I am a long term member of a shooting forum and shoot pests in my own woods and on other land. If you give me a contact email address and area I can probably find you a responsible shooter to control your pests for free. After a few years pest control and forum membership you get to recognise the responsible shooters from the trigger-happy chavs.

All responsible shooters will have their own third party insurance, usually through BASC. If a man offers to shoot there without insurance I would consider him to be irresponsible anyway.

[MartinD]

Catweazle - I'm in south Cheshire. When I first bought the land I came across a guy with a shotgun, who told me that I was on private land! He said he had permission from the farmer who owns the surrounding fields. I asked him to leave, and on checking with the farmer, he had not given permission. The farmer does his own rabbit control, but says he is too busy to look after mine! Whoever he was, he might have been doing me a favour, as the rabbit and squirrel population seems to have increased a lot since then - for the rabbits, evidenced more by the number of new burrows than actually seeing them, but the squirrels are more visible. I was standing still in the garden last weekend, at the edge of the woodland, and within 3m of my feet I had 2 rabbits and 3 squirrels.

Do you agree that this is rabbit damage? It looks more like the squirrel damage normally seen higher up, but as it is at ground level, I assume that it is a ground based animal. I always thought rabbits fed on grass and other leafy material, rather than bark.

Ferrets seem to be a 'friendlier' option, but I don't know how to get in touch with either responsible shooters or responsible ferret owners!

[MartinD]

I've answered my own question - found this information on the Forestry Commission website

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcpn2.pdf/$FILE/fcpn2.pdf

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcpn3.pdf/$FILE/fcpn3.pdf

the damage looks the same in a couple of the pictures - but it could be squirrels, even at grond level.

[Catweazle]

Martin, I have had ferreters on my own land with limited success. Ferrets work well in "young" warrens, warrens in woodland can be old and therefore deep and complicated. The older the warren the more likely the rabbits to run around underground and not come out into the nets, also the more likely the ferret will chase the rabbit down deep into a dead end which means the ferret will kill the rabbit and feed upon it whilst the ferreters radio tracking equipment cannot track it deep enough.

I've been down this path.

Shooting is better in old woodland, but as you've found out there are shooters and there are cowboys.

I have been shooting vermin and a member of the best forums for many years, if you can give me a rough location I can probably find you a responsible shooter to control your vermin. You meet the guy, check his insurance and decide, no pressure.

If anyone else wants vermin control there's a reasonable chance I can put you in touch. I won't just post a link to a shooting site, that would be stupid as anybody can join, but I will forward your requests to established and responsible shooters, after 5 years membership I know the decent chaps from the fools.

I should say that I am not looking for a shoot myself, my 17 acres keeps me busy, but I'm a keen shooter myself who would like to put good shooters in touch with woodland owners. I reckon that my 5 years shooting forum membership makes this safer than you just putting a request on-line and hoping that the respondent is a decent fellow.

If you want a pest controller eMail be at [email protected] and I'll see if there is a responsible shooter in your area.