GOT MY HANDS ON A BUZZARD !!

So, to all you animal lovers, where do you all stand on mink?

Should we persecute them or let them run free and destroy riverside wildlife again?


Shame about the buzzard, but it happens, they are scavengers and do eat roadkill. A lot of people are so ignorant of wildlife that the driver probably didn`t even recognise it for what it was.
 
fracster said:
So, to all you animal lovers, where do you all stand on mink?

Should we persecute them or let them run free and destroy riverside wildlife again?


Shame about the buzzard, but it happens, they are scavengers and do eat roadkill. A lot of people are so ignorant of wildlife that the driver probably didn`t even recognise it for what it was.
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And for that matter, the common domestic cat...
 
Islander said:
Mankind has been interfering with the balance of nature ever since we settled down and stopped being nomadic - in fact there's some evidence that we were interfering even before that. It's far too late to put the genie back in the bottle and so we have to manage what we have.

To the OP, it's unfortunate that animals do get hit by cars and equally unfortunate that there are some people that do so intentionally.
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Excellent post Tony............:thumbs:
 
Just shows that we all have our own ideas of what should or shouldn't live. I hear people that want to kill foxes and others that set up sanctuaries for them :thinking: Can be said of most animals to a certain degree. I'm sure Nicki's rabbit comment should be taken with a pinch of salt.
 
Islander said:
And for that matter, the common domestic cat...
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Agree domestic cats have created havoc on all the small islands that they have been introduced to. Nature needs to be managed in order to survive. I do think that mink needs to be culled so that local species are able to survive.
 
Liam said:
I am pretty sure that it is illegal to suddenly brake for an animal unless its a dog, I could be making this up so don't all jump on me :thinking:

The amount of people I have seen almost have an accident because of slowing down due to pheasants is silly....
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I think you are right about suddenly braking. Think about any motorists behind you, all they can see is a clear road ahead of your car, and then suddenly you brake for no apparent reason.
I live in the country, and have hit countless pigeons, squirrels and rabbits, which suddenly dart/fly out in front of you.
Years ago, I hit a kestrel, which suddenly flew up from the verge and hit my n/s headlight. If I had braked, then the person behind would have gone straight into the back of me. I went back for the kestrel, which was barely alive, and took it to a rescue centre, where it later died.
I have never hit a pheasant (tried many times ;):lol:), but if I did, then it would be taken home for the pot.
 
I hate the thought of any animal meeting an untimely end. I was ****ed off for a while the other day when i mowed a slow worm in the garden. I even said sorry to it:thinking:
 
Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh you must all know me by now :bang: :bang: :bang:

Yes IT WAS A JOKE RE THE RABBIT :bang: :bang: :bang: sorry if I offended anyone.

The road that the buzzard was on was a quiet country lane and there was no other cars around except this one and me coming in the opp. direction.

All the driver (he!) had to do was to look in his mirror see there was nothing coming and slow down, this would have given the bird a chance to get away as you know how low they fly.

He was in fact going a tad fast and obviously had no intent on slowing down, but he did put his brake lights on when he saw me stopping and then drove on.

I have in fact buried the bird up under the trees where the kites and buzzards fly around as I did not want it just rotting away at the side of the road.

I actually HATE killing things in the road but around here it is very difficult trying to avoid them at certain times and I will hold up my hand and say I have hit rabbits, phesants and pigeons, but never hit anything bigger :shake: purely because they have not got out of the way and it was not save to swerve or brake in the fear of having an accident.

Quite often we have badgers running down the middle of the road and I have followed one for about 1 mile giving it a chance to get out of the way but the stupid things seem intent on doing their exercise by the way of the road :lol:

Muntjacs are the worst they seem to pop out of no where and there are numerous carcasses around here on the side of the road.

Roe deer, well I have seen a few of those also goodness knows what damage it has done to the car and I can never understand why people don't stop when they have hit one of these to see how much it is suffering.

Foxes also, but mainly rabbits, pheasants and squirrels here.

I do have a habit of picking up road kill to use as baits for the kites etc and will continue to do so, so it gives them a safe environment to eat. :thumbs:
 
I had to put my sister's budgie down once, it was in such a bad way it had some sort of problem down below, but it was like elephant-man-bird, really messed up and the thing was suffering badly. So i took it out the back, and eventually plucked up the balls to put it out of its misery. The second i did it though i broke down in tears, it was horrible. I had never done that before and i felt terrible. But of course i took comfort in knowing that the bird wasn't suffering anymore. My sister was appreciative and sympathetic, but my mates laughed at me when i told them about it. They were laughing at me being a wuss, not the bird dying.

Life and death eh?....kuh!
 
This was a while back in the midst of a lovely cold Scottish winter. The Buzzard came down in an RSPB reserve. I was walking round and it came down about 100 meters from me, right in front of the guy with the red jacket. It was taken home and the RSPB were called for info and it was picked up and just needed a rest and a good feed.

Buzzard1.jpg
 
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Blimey, he was brave picking that up without gloves. :o

We've rescued a few birds obviously knackered in stormy weather. Usually a quiet night in a dark box in a warm place does the job. Our last visitor was a storm petrel - kept it warm overnight, released it the following sunset and watched it fly away - magic. :)
 
Briony said:
Muntjacs are the worst they seem to pop out of no where and there are numerous carcasses around here on the side of the road.

Roe deer, well I have seen a few of those also goodness knows what damage it has done to the car and I can never understand why people don't stop when they have hit one of these to see how much it is suffering.
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I was out walking the dog last night and we were stalking the kestrel to see if I could get a photo of it. Everytime this kestrel spots me he flies away then returns to hover at the same point, so I thought I'd creep up on him over the hilltop.
We disturbed a deer no more than 2 yards away from us - never saw it in the long grass, gave us both a big shock. It ran past me, knocking me down then legged it about 50 yards and turned around to see if I was getting up. Pretty sure it was our old friend
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I was driving past Brionys house (about 200 yards past) on my way down to the bottom field hide, when a Buzzard appeared from the hedgerow. Its was on a level with my windscreen. I was only doing about 30mph (proper country lane), i eased off a bit and for a few seconds we were doing about he same speed:D, eventually it got going and gained some height, had i been doing 50ish it would certainly have ended up in my windscreen They do seem cumbersome and take a while to work up some speed, not at all like when they are on a thermal:D
 
markyboy.1967 said:
This was a while back in the midst of a lovely cold Scottish winter. The Buzzard came down in an RSPB reserve. I was walking round and it came down about 100 meters from me, right in front of the guy with the red jacket. It was taken home and the RSPB were called for info and it was picked up and just needed a rest and a good feed.

Buzzard1.jpg
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Small potatoes, I had one of these in my kitchen.................:naughty:



LEO1.jpg


And yes, it did crap on the floor....................:lol:
 
Islander said:
Well like it or not, that's the state of the balance of nature in this country and it has to be managed to maintain it. Two examples: Rabbits do serious damage to crops and cause massive coastal erosion. They aren't even a native species -.
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Oh they arent native? Ok, so can we please get rid of all carp in rivers and lakes please, bring back wolves, kill all dogs, destroy all catfish, close all zoos, etc etc.

"Not native" is not an excuse. If you go back far enough, we as a people are not native to Britain ffs!
 
*Sighs*.......here we go again.
 
Effjay said:
Oh they arent native? Ok, so can we please get rid of all carp in rivers and lakes please, bring back wolves, kill all dogs, destroy all catfish, close all zoos, etc etc.

"Not native" is not an excuse. If you go back far enough, we as a people are not native to Britain ffs!
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Do me a favour and quote the whole message next time so that it can be seen in context rather than selective quoting which misprepresents the meaning of the post.
 
fracster said:
Full tale here Tony.
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That's pretty amazing and a nice job, Ade :)

I thought it was an eagle owl at first as well - it was only when you see it against a pair of hands that you get the proper scale.

I love the last picture too - a real happy ending :thumbs:
 
Was certainly a good few days Tony.............:thumbs:
 
Other than my wife and daughter, it was the most beautiful thing I have EVER had in any of my houses. A stunning thing to hold and watch.
 
Effjay said:
Oh they arent native? Ok, so can we please get rid of all carp in rivers and lakes please, bring back wolves, kill all dogs, destroy all catfish, close all zoos, etc etc.

"Not native" is not an excuse. If you go back far enough, we as a people are not native to Britain ffs!
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I`m trying really hard not to tell you how wrong you are, in industrial language...........:|
 
Evolution is the answer. As a youngster i didn't see many animals/birds lying by the roadside. Now it is a common occurrence to see foxes,badgers,deer and so many different species of bird lying on/by the road. The number of vehicles on the road now make it hazardous for us to cross the road never mind the wildlife that inhabits our towns and countryside!!
 
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