FINAL SAY Fen Tiger Mr Packham and the pigeons
Farmers cannot be expected to stand by while crops are destroyed, says Fen Tiger
A
s long as I remember, my rights to protect my way of life and crops have nev-
er been in doubt. Until now, that is, following Natural England’s abys- mal and muddled decision to with- draw the general licence which al- lows farmers to control a range of pests.
I may be a rarity among farm-
ers, but I actually look forward to the mass arrival of my favourite pest. I am of course talking about the pigeon. After a quietish au- tumn or winter, come spring I am ready to spring into action. I honestly believe my sole pur- pose for growing peas is to feed the local pigeon population. It has been suggested by some that a loss of around £250 per hectare can oc- cur due to the damage these birds cause.
I eagerly await the day when
the fi rst peas put their heads above ground and become visible to both shooter and pest. On many occa- sions, I drive by my fi elds secret- ly looking for an excuse to open the gun cabinet and exercise the black labrador.
Camouflage net So out comes the camoufl age net, gun, cartridges, docky and fl ask. But wait, following an interven- tion led by TV celebrity wildlife campaigner Chris Packham, I can no longer shoot wood pigeon or a number of other vermin. Since Natural England with- drew the general licence a few weeks ago, my right to protect my pea crop from the wood pi- geon without an individual licence makes me a law breaker. Worse still, no-one seems to know when these new individual licences will be open for applications. I did actually think while
watching a recent wildlife pro- gramme that Mr Packham talked mostly sense. But he seems to have very quickly lost the plot. Working with a group called Wild Justice, he challenged Natural England, arguing that the general licence was unlawful. Mr Packham argued that birds should only be killed if it could be proved that alternative non-le- thal control methods had been tried and failed to work. Natural England took legal advice, decid- ed it would loose any legal chal- lenge and withdrew the licence. This leaves farmers like me in an unenviable position – especial- ly when it comes to the pest that affects me the most, the wood pi-
geon. My attempts to control these birds have included at least six dif- ferent methods.
Old tricks First, I cut some old plastic fertil- iser bags into small thin strips, at- tached them to a wooden post and planted at least 10 of these devices per acre. The pigeons shied away for a day or so then used the plas- tic strips as beacons to focus their landing skills – as if they had their own private landing strip. My second failed control meth- od involved my old CD collec- tion that fl ashed and blinked in the sun. This had no effect oth- er than encouraging my neigh- bours to complain that the light was glinting annoyingly in the windows of their house.
My third attempt involved a bird scarer, gas cylinder and bat- tery. It worked well but I needed one gas gun every three or four acres. My gas cylinders were soon being stolen – presumably by peo- ple wanting to service their bar- becues. Mr fourth attempt involved
kites – or rather fancy look-a-like birds of prey attached to a fl exi- ble pole by a small thin rope. Too much wind meant the bird ended up upside down on the fl oor or the wind snapped the pole or string. In desperation, attempt num-
ber fi ve involved pointing a laser light at the pigeons while on the fi eld. It didn’t work either, so my sixth attempt was to rely on the trusty old side-by-side and a well- placed number six shot.
Scare tactics That’s right Mr Packham. After years of scare tactics, the only control method that works on pi- geons is to kill them. It is an art to correctly set your decoys to en- tice enough into the circle until the plastic ones can be removed and replaced with the real thing. Which reminds me, the last 20 or so that I shot last winter still re- main in the bottom of the freezer – alongside the beef wellington and strawberry cheese cake, much to the annoyance of my wife. I am confi dent I have tried
every bird scarer known to man. They have all been tested and failed – apart from the well placed number six shot. Where will it all end? What’s next? The pheasant shoot, grouse shoot or even the rabbit?
In the meantime, I challenge any government inspector to fi nd me protecting my peas. If a sharp- eyed wood pigeon cannot see my hide, then what chance has an ea- gle eyed inspector? It is one pair of eyes against 20 million. I will take my chance!
“I am confi dent I have tried every bird scarer known to man.”
90 ANGLIA FARMER • JUNE 2019
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