Idiots! Shot Heron

[Mawders 595]

Smoothfinish, lets get this topic back on track. If you feel passionately about this incident then do report it. There is no evidence it was the lads in the orange van so it may not be investigated but with your partial registration number your local force can check the police national computer and do a partial registration number check, this should show up the orange van which as you say can't be common!

 

In turn the local force can look into who owns that van and see what they are known for and in turn might make them look a little closer at their activities ;-)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Mawders

[bigmac 97kt 13,780]

My mate vislauk takes his dogs for a walk along the river that runs through a park and he had come across a swan that had been shot with a air rifle it was on the bank side with holes in its head and it p***d him off there a lovely bird to watch its things like this that feed the anty,s and give us a bad name there just total b******ds atvbmac

[Marksman 934]

The tall end of it whether people like it or not is it happens....

Irresponsibility!!

The people that shot it probably don't even know what the general licence is and I'd bet a months pay they only shot at it to see if they could hit it!!

 

The sooner people like this are stopped the better

 

Darryl

[smoothfinish 26]

thats the other thing that pissed me off they are shooting on my permission that i have had for a long time and a close friend of the land owner its only because he knows me very well he knows i would never do such thing but it could of ruined my shooting permission if i had only been working the land for a short time iv told the land owner the bad news today and hes going to keep an eye and listen for any guns going off so hopefully he catches who ever is responsible and do them for armed trespass and maybe get the heron put on there card after

[Mister Gain 1,764]

if im wrong ere the pond in a disused water storage what they used to wash the trucks wheels and the road sweeper nobody gos there the heron is there for a reason to take the weaker fish plus the last time i looked out of my kitchen window there were not 5 herons sat eating my grass seed or shiting on my car or there fleas killing half of england. I dont see how you can even start to justify this shooting it would be like shooting a dog for barking thats what they do sorry but its just my opinion

 

Not strictly true, yes a heron will take weaker fish, but it will also take ANY fish which comes within striking distance. I have seen hundreds of them in over 40 years of angling.

The heron is a relentless predator, not only do they take fish, they take any living thing which will fit down their throat ie. frogs, snakes, rats, voles, small rabbits, ducklings, chicks.. etc. etc. Have a browse through youtube to confirm this. Once they find a source of food they will return time and time again until there is no food left. I have seen a heron take a near 3lb bream which wouldn't fit down it's throat, but it wouldn't let it go, and I watched it struggling with it for a good half an hour.

I have no qualms about herons doing what comes naturally to them in the wild, but I certainly don't want them taking my very expensive fish from my pond. Even with netting over the pond, they still come and try their luck.

[paulus 26]

Herons and cormerants are at plauge proportions around most waterways in the uk, a license can be obtained to cull but its restricted to a specified number. not condoning anything illegal but species numbers need controling when there having a direct effect on other wildlife and peoples livelyhood

[j j m 6,536]

that is shocking

[Marksman 934]

Herons and cormerants are at plauge proportions around most waterways in the uk, a license can be obtained to cull but its restricted to a specified number. not condoning anything illegal but species numbers need controling when there having a direct effect on other wildlife and peoples livelyhood

Isn't that what the GL is for??

They done the same with Starlings way back when every Joe Bloggs was running round with an air rifle to the fact they were being found shot in the streets.

Granted the numbers went down but that's what the rules are there for.

It's obvious it happens unofficially on the QT but there's still no harm in doing it the official way and applying for the correct licence

 

Darryl

[Lab 10,979]

 

 

if im wrong ere the pond in a disused water storage what they used to wash the trucks wheels and the road sweeper nobody gos there the heron is there for a reason to take the weaker fish plus the last time i looked out of my kitchen window there were not 5 herons sat eating my grass seed or shiting on my car or there fleas killing half of england. I dont see how you can even start to justify this shooting it would be like shooting a dog for barking thats what they do sorry but its just my opinion

Not strictly true, yes a heron will take weaker fish, but it will also take ANY fish which comes within striking distance. I have seen hundreds of them in over 40 years of angling.

The heron is a relentless predator, not only do they take fish, they take any living thing which will fit down their throat ie. frogs, snakes, rats, voles, small rabbits, ducklings, chicks.. etc. etc. Have a browse through youtube to confirm this. Once they find a source of food they will return time and time again until there is no food left. I have seen a heron take a near 3lb bream which wouldn't fit down it's throat, but it wouldn't let it go, and I watched it struggling with it for a good half an hour.

I have no qualms about herons doing what comes naturally to them in the wild, but I certainly don't want them taking my very expensive fish from my pond. Even with netting over the pond, they still come and try their luck.

Great post and a lovely insight into the predatory instincts of the Heron for anyone who doesn't know the damage they can cause. Again ill say in the instance of the OP then shooting that heron IMO would have been wrong but moaning and name calling just because its 'banned' gets my back up a bit.

[dadioles 68]

This is not a case of the justified shooting of a heron because it is being a major pest. It sounds more like an idiot with a gun getting some sad satisfaction from killing a large bird.

 

The bottom line is that what happened is illegal and brings all shooters into disrepute, threatening our legal and responsible activities.

 

Potentially quite a number of offences will have been committed, not least of all armed trespass. Shooting Herons is in itself an offence punishable by fines or imprisonment.

 

The death of the heron has also rather upset the original poster who was deriving some pleasure from observing the behaviour of our wildlife.

 

There is no evidence that the lads in the van were to blame and I doubt the police will show any interest but you owe it to your conscience to give it a try.

 

Why not give the local RSPCA inspector a quick ring and see if they can give you the name of a policeman in the area with some responsibility for wildlife as he may be rather more sympathetic.

 

If you don't report it you will continue to feel that you are letting yourself down as you know in your heart what is the right thing to do.

[bigdaz 688]

This is not a case of the justified shooting of a heron because it is being a major pest. It sounds more like an idiot with a gun getting some sad satisfaction from killing a large bird.

 

The bottom line is that what happened is illegal and brings all shooters into disrepute, threatening our legal and responsible activities.

 

Potentially quite a number of offences will have been committed, not least of all armed trespass. Shooting Herons is in itself an offence punishable by fines or imprisonment.

 

The death of the heron has also rather upset the original poster who was deriving some pleasure from observing the behaviour of our wildlife.

 

There is no evidence that the lads in the van were to blame and I doubt the police will show any interest but you owe it to your conscience to give it a try.

 

Why not give the local RSPCA inspector a quick ring and see if they can give you the name of a policeman in the area with some responsibility for wildlife as he may be rather more sympathetic.

 

If you don't report it you will continue to feel that you are letting yourself down as you know in your heart what is the right thing to do.

Get a bloody grip.

[paulus 26]

 

Herons and cormerants are at plauge proportions around most waterways in the uk, a license can be obtained to cull but its restricted to a specified number. not condoning anything illegal but species numbers need controling when there having a direct effect on other wildlife and peoples livelyhood

Isn't that what the GL is for??

They done the same with Starlings way back when every Joe Bloggs was running round with an air rifle to the fact they were being found shot in the streets.

Granted the numbers went down but that's what the rules are there for.

It's obvious it happens unofficially on the QT but there's still no harm in doing it the official way and applying for the correct licence

 

Darryl

 

no its a seperate license, normally issued for fisheries protection,here http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/piscbirdreport0203monitoring_tcm6-4632.pdf

 

 

 

 

,

[pothunter 33]

HERONS WILL AND DO KILL DUCKLINGS AS WELL THEY ARE VERMIN

[dadioles 68]

 

This is not a case of the justified shooting of a heron because it is being a major pest. It sounds more like an idiot with a gun getting some sad satisfaction from killing a large bird.

 

The bottom line is that what happened is illegal and brings all shooters into disrepute, threatening our legal and responsible activities.

 

Potentially quite a number of offences will have been committed, not least of all armed trespass. Shooting Herons is in itself an offence punishable by fines or imprisonment.

 

The death of the heron has also rather upset the original poster who was deriving some pleasure from observing the behaviour of our wildlife.

 

There is no evidence that the lads in the van were to blame and I doubt the police will show any interest but you owe it to your conscience to give it a try.

 

Why not give the local RSPCA inspector a quick ring and see if they can give you the name of a policeman in the area with some responsibility for wildlife as he may be rather more sympathetic.

 

If you don't report it you will continue to feel that you are letting yourself down as you know in your heart what is the right thing to do.

Get a bloody grip.

 

And yes, that is exactly the sort of stupid comment that will mean that in very few years air rifles in England will have to be licensed.

Open your eyes and like it or not the country is full of people who want to ban guns and save wildlife, no matter how badly informed and misguided their views may be.

In case you wondered.... I am no fan of Herons. The damn things cleaned out my pond of fish too.

Edited April 22, 2013 by dadioles

[Lab 10,979]

 

 

 

 

This is not a case of the justified shooting of a heron because it is being a major pest. It sounds more like an idiot with a gun getting some sad satisfaction from killing a large bird.

 

The bottom line is that what happened is illegal and brings all shooters into disrepute, threatening our legal and responsible activities.

 

Potentially quite a number of offences will have been committed, not least of all armed trespass. Shooting Herons is in itself an offence punishable by fines or imprisonment.

 

The death of the heron has also rather upset the original poster who was deriving some pleasure from observing the behaviour of our wildlife.

 

There is no evidence that the lads in the van were to blame and I doubt the police will show any interest but you owe it to your conscience to give it a try.

 

Why not give the local RSPCA inspector a quick ring and see if they can give you the name of a policeman in the area with some responsibility for wildlife as he may be rather more sympathetic.

 

If you don't report it you will continue to feel that you are letting yourself down as you know in your heart what is the right thing to do.

Get a bloody grip.

And yes, that is exactly the sort of stupid comment that will mean that in very few years air rifles in England will have to be licensed.

Open your eyes and like it or not the country is full of people who want to ban guns and save wildlife, no matter how badly informed and misguided their views may be.

In case you wondered.... I am no fan of Herons. The damn things cleaned out my pond of fish too.

Why is that such a bad thing that everyone who owns an air rifle should have a license. I think it's. good thing. I have to pay for a license for my rifles so why should you differ. Surely if it stopped the real idiots getting there hands on them willy nilly it would only benefit the 'sport' in the long run. Don't you agree?