AS I WRITE, many of us are struggling to get our heads around when, how and if we will be able to continue with our shooting as usual. A challenge by Wild Justice, a group led by television’s Chris Packham, among others, has forced Natural England (NE) to revoke the general licences used for the control of pest birds including crows, magpies, rooks, jackdaws, jays, pigeons, feral pigeons and collared doves.
The licences were revoked with around 48 hours’ notice, without consultation, and effectively made the shooting and trapping of these pests illegal. Farmers and pest controllers were left powerless as mobs of corvids pecked the eyes out of newborn lambs, and countless thousands of acres of cereal crops were decimated by woodpigeons. The move really couldn’t have come at…
