August 19th, 2013

Just back from two days at Galloway Country Fair at Drumlanrig where it was good to catch up with some old faces. The majority of the keepers and syndicate members who spoke to me were very worried at the sheer numbers of badgers and buzzards in the countryside  and the affects they feel they are having. Like everyone else with a view on this subject, those spending their daily lives working or operating in the countryside deserve to be listened to by policymakers, as their concerns are very real, both for livestock and wider nature. I was approached by a farmer who informed me that it was now impossible to have lambs outside younger than a week old and that foolproof fences were a thing of the past as the badgers were destroying them constantly. Everybody I spoke with were asking how long the tail docking fiasco was going to continue.  Many people are now buying their pups from south of the border or Ireland- what a sad state of affairs for our industry in Scotland. Please keep up the pressure and email your MSP on this important issue. On Friday, I attended the Police Scotland headquarters in Pitt Street, Glasgow, along with Allan Hodgson, the firearms representative on the committee, to discuss different issues with the firearms team. We had a very useful meeting regarding all sorts of issues and we came away feeling very positive. It gave us peace of mind that we will have direct connection with the police in the future concerning any problems that may arise with our members. I hope this is a start of a two way process whereby we can help each other. Last week saw me back out on the Glorious 12th, loading at the grouse for two days. What a joy it was to meet up with many keepers I have not seen for months. The purple heather was in full bloom and stretched as far as the eye could see. These large areas of heather moorland (which to me are special places of conservation) were teeming with insects and plants. Our heather is now more endangered than the rain forest and I felt very proud to be out on the hill this week. We must take every opportunity to enlighten people, who have not seen or experienced our special moorlands, as to the fantastic job the keepers do in conserving such a rich resource. There will be few reserves run by conservation charities this year that will boast as many wading birds. Over my two days of loading I had some interesting discussions with my gun ( who was, incidentally, a builder). What we both emphatically agreed upon was the fact that, as worldwide experiences  go, grouse shooting, whether it be driven or walked up, was very high in the order of things and could not be replicated anywhere else in the world. He also agreed that millions and millions of pounds are raised privately and invested straight into our rural economy, which keeps our rural communities breathing. For our government to ignore this vital statistic would be extreme folly indeed!