Lawrie

It's difficult to know how to answer your last post when, in one breath you say I am "a much respected contributor to the message board" and in the very next I am "like a terrier worrying a rat, you will just not let it go."

To say "Scottish wildlife is there because of these estates" stretches credulity. Raptors & small mammals have been persecuted by estates in Scotland ever since they came into being. White tailed eagles were hunted to extinction and golden eagles almost so, by these very same estates that you are so keen to defend.

The majority of the hunting estates are there primarily for the production of very few species to the detriment of a host of others. One of the gamekeepers' prime roles is to keep the levels of "vermin," as you so tastelessy described corvids, raptors and small furry creatures with big teeth, down to levels that will not impinge on the production levels of game species. They create their own version of a monoculture, decimating 'undesirable' species.

But, as you have said previously "Its my view that Gamekeepers should be left to reduce the numbers or eradicate the vermin that blight their profession by whatever way possible, as long as it is humane," I shall not attempt to change your mind.

My initial, emotion-free post is still there for Challenge folk who do have an open mind and want to know the facts about legal and illegal traps.

Let's be clear about this: It is illegal to trap animals in illegally set traps. I suggest that if Challengers do find illegal traps they report them to the police so they can nail the offending keepers and estate owners who continue to install and sanction their use.

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