Hunting Feral Animals HELPS not HINDERS other Control Programs.

Hunting Feral Animals HELPS not HINDERS other Control Programs.

(a fuller view on my last post)

I am getting tired of hearing the the refrain :
"There is no scientific evidence that recreational Hunting is an effective way to manage pest species"

Well no SHIT Sherlock!

Here is what I will say in the following note (but with a lot more pictures and word)

- There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that ad hoc hunting HARMS or DETRACTS from the effectiveness of other control programs in place.


- Shooting is one of the tools needed to control pests
- Shooting done by Volunteers makes pests just as dead as the ones shot by Professionals.
- Volunteers can work in co-ordinated way (eg fox drives) for large area purge/reduction to great effect.
- Volunteers alone or in small groups engaging in ad hoc opportunistic shooting/hunting provide an excellent adjunct to the other control programs in place. Every Hunter in the field represents another opportunity for pest animal to encounter a pest control tool. (Qld DPI)
-To talk about the "death of the hunted animal" in isolation from the deaths of the animals victims (animal & human) is deceitful, manipulative & cruel.
- To talk of the cruelty of hunting in isolation from the effectiveness or actual effects of other control methods on the animals is also deceitful, manipulative & possibly evidence ignorance.

What does BIO SECURITY NSW HAVE TO SAY About HUNTING & Other Control Methods:

Few if ANY control Techniques have Scientific Studies to support Effectiveness

We do not have any scientific studies at this point that demonstrate reduced impacts.(of Hunting)
BUT in saying that, its difficult to do that for a whole range of techniques.For techniques that people are using to reduce numbers of #feral #animals it is challenging to get good measures of impact
Mr Tracy to NSW Inquiry into Public Land Use

Did you catch that: They don't have any scientific studies for the effectiveness of most of the the techniques!!!

What else did Mr Tracey and other from BIO SECURITY NSW have to say to GreenCate & Others at the Inquiry:


FERAL PEST CONTROL is EVERYONES RESPONSIBLITY

Bio Security - Everyones Responsibility. Game Council Contributed

WE DONT CARE IF ITS PRO SHOOTERS OR AMAETUR - We just want Ferals Gone

Bio Security is about RESULTS. IT is not concerned with who does the work.

On GreenCates Comment re fox hunting" "I think again its is not realistic"

Greens Know Shooting works. Bio Security strongly advocate integrated pest management. Bait-Trap-Shoot

WHAT IS IT YOU DONT SEE:

Feral Pest Kill Natives

Cat vs Shooter Alas Bilby met the Cat First

Not just the birds and small natives Even Wallaby & Roos

Not great for Rosella
http://glasstire.com/2012/12/12/novel-houston-art-classes-survive-through-cunning-brew-of-edu-tainment/model-of-feral-cat-with-rosella-from-gondwanaland-sanctuary-brisbane

These Correllas meet a cat and it did not go well

If you TRAP, NEUTER & RELEASE - which of the above events will NOT occur again during the life of the CAT/DOG/FOX that you released back into the wild?



Feral Pest Kill Farm Animals

A nights work for #Feral Dogs

Lama http://www.ruralweekly.com.au/news/sheep-grazing-go-unless-wild-dogs-are-contained/1923751/

Cattle http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/baiting-wild-dogs-a-matter-of-urgency/1128932/

AGAIN: If you TRAP, NEUTER & RELEASE - which of the above events will NOT occur again during the life of the CAT/DOG/FOX that you released back into the wild?



These Images are DAILY event  around Australia.

Ask yourself IS IT OK to wake up to this Once a week? Once a Month? EVER?
Ask yourself IS IT OK for the farmers KIDS to wake up to this?

I often read from the "anti hunting" crew  that I am damaging my Son and Daughter by taking them hunting.
Ask yourself, what sort of damage is being done to the Farmers Sons & Daughters waking up to find another half eaten lamb, a ewe still alive but with its guts hanging out & seeing their parents grief & stress!

Take a good hard look a the slaughter of those ewes and lambs and calves.
I put up the "clean photos"
NOW CLOSE YOUR EYES and imagine that is what you FACE walking out in to your work place in the Morning

They are not sleeping

VOLUNTEER HUNTERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Foxes Feast

Fox Drive Results

Yep that last photo was a Co Ordinated Fox Drive run by volunteers.
But you say that is different to a couple of guys with rifles walking around.

What about these two Hunters

A Nights work https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200165655416127&set=o.204449656299875&type=3

In NSW 20,000 R-Licenced Hunters did this:



There are thousands more guys and girls just helping out on private properties

But right now nothing is being done on any of the 10,000,000 Hectares of NSW  State Forest/National Parks.

What about South of the border:

VICTORIA:
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said the bounty was a key election commitment that had received an overwhelming response from farmers and hunters since commencing in October 2011.
"Over 15 months, collection centres have received more than 133,000 fox scalps and 400 wild dog pelts, and the total of bounties paid now exceeds $1.3 million," Mr Walsh said.
"These collection figures show that the bounty continues to play an important role in the Government's integrated approach to fox and wild dog control, in combination with other control methods such as trapping and ground baiting.
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/5795-victorian-fox-bounty-tops-133000-scalps.html


SOUTH AUSTRALIA

For 20 years SSAA Hunters have been the biggest "friends of the National Parks" & winning awards.




QUEENSLAND might be coming around too?

"Something needs to be done and controlled conservational hunting could be the answer."
A method which aims to reduce the number of pest species in Australia, conservational hunting is generally undertaken by trained wildlife workers.
"These farmers just need a solution," Mr Foley said.
http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/tackle-pest-problem-with-controlled-hunting-mp/1145251/

Biosecurity Queensland senior wild dog officer Clynton Spencer, of Stanthorpe.
Mr Spencer outlined strategies for best controlling and managing wild dogs in the region.
He said landholders needed to work together to combat wild dogs.
"There needs to be more communication and ownership of the problem," Mr Spencer said.
"Properties can get reinfested continually when neighbours do nothing.
"Any pest management activities must be co-ordinated, by integrating tools across the landscape (baiting, trapping and shooting by everyone)."
http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/mistakes-fatal-for-wild-dogs/1989909/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer7283e&utm_medium=twitter



SHOOTING (Hunter main tool) is HUMANE, SPECIES SPECIFIC, SAFE for Environment & HIGHLY AFFORDABLE when you us Volunteers - NSW DPI even acknowledges this:

Highly Affordable Humane Species Specific

Yes it requires experienced skilled & responsible shooters. The very thing Hunting Clubs and #Game #Council was promoting and encouraging and running hunter ED course to achieve.

Recent Study on Aerial Shooting:
"The average time to death was eight seconds and 58 per cent of those 2000-odd horses died instantaneously," he said.
Sam Rando says the shooters aim for three target areas, the cranium, thorax and neck.
"The vet recorded that 97 per cent of the animals were shot in one of those three target areas," he said.
"There's never been any evidence to date about the humaneness of different control methods.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-13/animal-welfare-horse-culling/4873726/?site=alicesprings

Yes I know they were pro and good shots. That is the point, Good Shooting = Humane Outcomes.

What does Game Council advise? What is my Hunting Club constantly telling us - Focus on Good Shot Placement.
Go for heart lung (Thorax) its quick and clean and much lower risk of error than head shot.

Let me just finish with a look at the alternatives that Anti Hunting Groups remain quite about:


Baiting
- be clear 4 hours to a few days to die from this method.

First here are some results from a trial of buried and surface baits & some trail cam pictures.

Buried Baits still kill wombats. Surface Baits Kil 3 x morel wombats than burried.

The trial poisoned 4 wombats.
The surface baits poisoned 8 non target animals and got 10 Target Animals that means it missed 44% of the time.
The Buried baits poisoned 1 non target and got 10 target animals so only missed only 9% of the time.
Notice for Surface baits only 42% where taken
Notice for Buried baits only 25% where taken

I would also like to draw your attention to this (remember shot animal will take 8-30 seconds to die)

Mode of action

Although animals vary widely in their sensitivity to 1080 (discussed in the following sections), the basic mode of action of the poison is the same in all animals. 1080 acts by disrupting the “Krebs cycle”, the complex metabolic pathway that breaks down food providing energy for cells to function. Once the energy reserves are depleted, death occurs fairly quickly from heart or respiratory failure. Possums become lethargic and usually die within 6-18 hours from cardiac failure. This is the most common cause of death in herbivores poisoned by 1080. Carnivores experience central nervous system disturbances and convulsions as their energy supplies are exhausted, and then die of respiratory failure. Animals that eat sub-lethal doses may show mild signs of poisoning, but the 1080 is metabolised and excreted within one to four days and the animal recovers. All traces of 1080 are, therefore, likely to be eliminated within one week⁹.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/publications/conservation/threats-and-impacts/animal-pests/the-use-of-1080-for-pest-control/4-information-about-1080/4_1-key-facts/

For Pigs it is about 4 hours for some poisons, but up to 10-14 days per COP-Feral-Pigs (ref below)

Trapping:
- be clear the animals are confined until you come back & shoot them.
- The need food water and shelter until you come back for this to be humaneTrapping of pigs can be a humane method of control when traps are inspected at least once daily and they are set up to provide shade and shelter. Pigs have poor thermoregulation and can suffer greatly when exposed to extremes of heat and cold.

The trap should be constructed in a way so as not to cause injury from loose wire, sharp edges or malfunctioning gates. Also, a smaller mesh size should be used to prevent injuries to the pigs’ snouts if they charge at the trap when attempting to escape. Trapped pigs must be destroyed by shooting as quickly and humanely as possible. If lactating sows are caught in a trap without their young, efforts should be made to find dependent piglets and kill them quickly and humanely.

Although pig traps are designed for the capture of feral pigs, there is still a risk of capturing other species. Use of a pig-specific gate trip mechanism minimises the risk of catching some species eg. cassowaries and wallabies, whilst the placement of a steel post across a funnel trap entrance at a height of 1 metre above the ground will prevent cattle from entering. Non-target animals that are caught but not injured should be released at the trap site. If they are injured, but may respond to veterinary treatment, such treatment should be sought. Severely injured non-target animals should be destroyed quickly and humanely.
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/pubs/cop-feral-pigs.pdf

TRAPS = Being SHOT
TRAPS = Being separated from young until shot (potential)
TRAPS = Potentially injured due to poor trap constructions
TRAPS = Risk of not target species being caught/injured/fatally injured
TRAPS = Require daily visits, good construction, appropriate location, food & water to be HUMANE.



TRAP NEUTER RELEASE/STERILIZATION
-The only native animals saved are the ones not being killed while you neuter the animal.
-if you use an injection rather than surgery ?
- Is not considered viable by any DPI in Australia or Bio Security

For Cats
For a more balanced view http://www.ccac.net.au/issues/Trap_Neuter_Release

For Herbivores
There is a mix of research. Clearly surgical sterilization is grossly impracticable.
This leaves some form of ballistic ally delivered drug (that means we shoot it into them)
From the reading I have done you need to cover about 30+% of all hinds in the first sweeps and then maintain steady rate of sterilization.

So in Australia  - SHOOTING - TRAPPING - POISON are the 3 main tools.

 SO JUST IN CASE YOU GOT THIS FAR:
Here is what I said

- There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that ad hoc hunting HARMS or DETRACTS from the effectiveness of other control programs in place.


- Shooting is one of the tools needed to control pests
- Shooting done by Volunteers makes pests just as dead as the ones shot by Professionals.
- Volunteers can work in co-ordinated way (eg fox drives) for large area purge/reduction to great effect.
- Volunteers alone or in small groups engaging in ad hoc opportunistic shooting/hunting provide an excellent adjunct to the other control programs in place. Every Hunter in the field represents another opportunity for pest animal to encounter a pest control tool. (Qld DPI)
-To talk about the "death of the hunted animal" in isolation from the deaths of the animals victims (animal & human) is deceitful, manipulative & cruel.
- To talk of the cruelty of hunting in isolation from the effectiveness or actual effects of other control methods on the animals is also deceitful, manipulative & possibly evidence ignorance.






Photos have been attributed where I can & were publicly available.
If I have used a photo of yours and you would prefer I did not please let me know and I will remove it from the note. AI.