Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

lostinrates

Stupid drunk kids on bicycles woke us up at 2 am. They were loud and woke up all the dairy cows who were very unsettled.

DH went out with the pack of hounds, dog dog doing her spine tingling call that would make a werewolf turn tail and run.

Then we heard lamping, not enough to have woken us, but now we were awake could here it, so I had to call the police and say sort of where it was coming from. Noise is really hard to work out from here, things you things are coming from the north might actually be coming from the south west and vice versa.

vivatifosi

Could the lamping be badger cull where you are like, or likely to be something more illegal?

Hope you get a better sleep tonight.

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

Could the lamping be badger cull where you are like, or likely to be something more illegal?

Hope you get a better sleep tonight.

No, we're not in the badger cull zone. Lamping is a common illegal activity really. Our rural crime team is quite good, its just whether they could locate it.

neverdespairgirl

Rabbits, do you think?

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Rabbits, do you think?

We don't have that many rabbits. It might be because of all the lamping (we also get a bit of gypsy coursing) but last year we lost a few of 'our' deer and we have quite a few hare......both make 'fun' quarry so I am told as well as rabbits. Tbh, I think anything that moves is probably fairly interesting to a certain sort of person.

neverdespairgirl

lostinrates wrote: »

We don't have that many rabbits. It might be because of all the lamping (we also get a bit of gypsy coursing) but last year we lost a few of 'our' deer and we have quite a few hare......both make 'fun' quarry so I am told as well as rabbits. Tbh, I think anything that moves is probably fairly interesting to a certain sort of person.

My parents have a plague of rabbits - so much so, that their roses, young trees, hedges and the vegetable garden are all fenced off, otherwise they are nibbled bare. And that's despite Yossie's best efforts, which are impressive (I won't post that photo again, don't want ot upset GBD even if he's away on holiday).

vivatifosi

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My parents have a plague of rabbits - so much so, that their roses, young trees, hedges and the vegetable garden are all fenced off, otherwise they are nibbled bare. And that's despite Yossie's best efforts, which are impressive (I won't post that photo again, don't want ot upset GBD even if he's away on holiday).

Here we have a cats vs foxes issue. They have huge standoffs in the early hours and they are both very noisy. Where I live most people work, so have cats rather than dogs as they don't worry about leaving them at home. We also have several nature areas nearby, hence the foxes.

I never see any rabbits round here, they would be very prompty despatched.

Itismehonest

lostinrates wrote: »

No, we're not in the badger cull zone. Lamping is a common illegal activity really. Our rural crime team is quite good, its just whether they could locate it.

I'm pretty certain lamping itself isn't illegal, LIR. I think it's the use of dogs (usually lurchers) which is the nasty side. The lamp freezes the rabbit &, instead of shooting them cleanly, some weirdos just like to set the dogs on them.
Farmers go out lamping for foxes & rabbits both quite legal pest control when done correctly.

As far as rabbits go, 6 eat the same as a sheep & can do a lot of damage. That's why there's a legal obligation on landholders to control rabbit numbers on their land to stop damage to neighbouring' land.

When the deer poachers start with their high-powered rifles you definitely know what's going on _pale_

neverdespairgirl

It can certainly be legal - but in Kent, when someone's going to do it legally (after rabbits, or foxes, say) they notify the police, the parish council, and the neighbours. That way no-one panics if they hear a shotgun after dark!

You need various things - including permission in writing from the landowner or game-rights-owner of the land, and I think the landowner can only authorise relatives, employees, or people contracted for hire to do it on their land. Not sure about that, though. The lamper also needs insurance and (obviously) a firearms certificate.

lostinrates

Itismehonest wrote: »

I'm pretty certain lamping itself isn't illegal, LIR. I think it's the use of dogs (usually lurchers) which is the nasty side. The lamp freezes the rabbit &, instead of shooting them cleanly, some weirdos just like to set the dogs on them.
Farmers go out lamping for foxes & rabbits both quite legal pest control when done correctly.

As far as rabbits go, 6 eat the same as a sheep & can do a lot of damage. That's why there's a legal obligation on landholders to control rabbit numbers on their land to stop damage to neighbouring' land.

When the deer poachers start with their high-powered rifles you definitely know what's going on _pale_

One of the places we looked at buying was the DEFRA rabbit research farm....:D where they did the research into thing s like how much rabbits eat.

Yes, lamping is not itself illegal nor cruel, but it is indiscriminate and (and not only used against rabbits).

Also, tbc, hunting with dogs is NOT illegal, hunting with a pack of dogs is. Its still legal to hunt with two hounds for example, is legal.

Beagles do a lot of the control round here, as they take fallen stock for the livestock farmers. There are also other people who do rabbit shooting here, not lamping, who are free. Its a popular military past time.