Beavering about..

[Allan Crawford]

I'm quite happy with beavers in Argyll - plenty room for them.

Reintroductions - why are we for ospreys, red kites and sea eagles but against beavers?

And if you don't like beavers ...


http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-27445875?SThisFB

Birds of prey been found killed recently up our way, mostly Red Kites and Golden Eagles, even been discussed at Scottish Parliament

[Bobfly]

Terrain is crucial in relation to the "effects" of beavers and they would prefer lowland situations of only slight slopes eg. much of Tayside. Rain fed spate streams and rivers with fast flow rates as with most of Argyll are less suited so they will centre on limited flood plain areas in Argyll where the areas of ground flooded are consequently larger and so the landowners may be more annoyed.
The piece about the legal status of the beavers either in-trial or escaped (aye right) shows that the genie is long out of the bottle. About ten years or more in fact.

[Inchlaggan]

The piece about the legal status of the beavers either in-trial or escaped (aye right) shows that the genie is long out of the bottle. About ten years or more in fact.

So correct. There is a parallel with the wild boar around here. They have been here for years since they "escaped" or were "criminally released" from a farm in Glen Dessary (whichever the cause, the farmer got the insurance- go figure). Sightings were rare, a bunch of walkers got chased off the track at Poulary. There was plenty of sign- they ploughed up the bracken at Altnaslat and my neighbour's lawn (kind of stupid as he was a retired pork butcher with a rifle). You can see sign under the oak trees at Inshlaggan House right by the roadside. All this time the authorities were ignoring or denying the facts- though Forestry Enterprise had a shoot on sight policy that you could find on t'interweb of you dug hard enough. A B&B at Glen Gloy set up a camera trap and got one on video, there was a juvenile corpse by the side of the A82 for weeks and there is now the rumour of a police car hitting a full-grown boar on the A82 north of Fort Augustus. The story finally featured on "Landward" a couple of weeks ago with an interview with another neighbour.
The legal position is difficult as they are not mentioned in the legislation, so there is no definition be it "game", "non-native", "pest", or whatever- though cruel or inhumane killings will be covered.

[Wildfisher]

The piece about the legal status of the beavers either in-trial or escaped (aye right) shows that the genie is long out of the bottle. About ten years or more in fact.

Indeed. Perhaps the previous SG were more astute than we gave them credit for at the time they refused beaver trial permission. What we now appear to have is a complete shambles thanks to  Mike Russell .

[Buanán]

I'm quite happy with beavers in Argyll - plenty room for them.

Reintroductions - why are we for ospreys, red kites and sea eagles but against beavers?

And if you don't like beavers ...


http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-27445875?SThisFB

I'm all for it. Anything that improves habitat is to be supported IMO, all habitat improvements ultimately improve fishing, including the dodgy looking fellows in that link.   

[Wildfisher]

Wouldn't wolves devour the work force of The Power Houses Of Europe?  :lol:

[loch coulter]

Beavers are not much different from humans when it comes to real estate, if you were to take a middle aged couple from Hampshire and release them into Argyll for example, they would settle into their new home initially, survey their surroundings and meet the neighbours, maybe even have some children, but ultimately they would consider moving to leafier surrounds more in keeping with their lifestyle,
The only difference is that beavers are not encumbered with house prices, without competition they would have the whole country to choose from, when Mrs Beaver sets her heart on a little corner of Tayside you know its only a matter of time before the neighbourhood is full of beavers.

But this is nature at work, its what we wanted surely, were they introduced only to be controlled by us in a pretend wildness?
'wild' comes with these inconveniences, it doesn't always 'provide us' with the nice bits for us to look at before we get back on the bus, did they not mention that bit? just sometimes it exercises its wildness and floods the garden, and we have to write a letter to someone to bring it back within our control,
Foxes are lovely reminders of wildness but if they pull all the rubbish out our bin or eat the chickens we don't put the bin and chickens somewhere safe, we shoot our little bit of wildness, wholesale, with the will of the country behind us, cull and tame, then reintroduce them when their fight for survival reaches a critical point and the bin is left unmolested,
In doing all this we don't give a damn about living things, their sole purpose is to satisfy our whims, the badger lovers for example get a cause to fight for, the marksmen get a reason to kill stuff, the scientists get to look like their vocation provides important data, and the word 'management' tells us all its a worthwhile way to spend money.

A nation of animal lovers? or are we just obsessed with keeping gardens tidy and slug free?

and there speaks the voice of reason. :

[Wildfisher]

A nation of animal lovers? or are we just obsessed with keeping gardens tidy and slug free?

It's not gardeners with slug pellets beavers will have to worry about in the fertile lands of Tayside. It's angry  farmers with 12 bore shotguns. 

[Wildfisher]

Here's another "beaver in the woodpile"  to ponder. On rivers like The Dean (there are illegal beavers there and lots of their dams),  and indeed my local river,  that have been heavily modified by canalization, embankments cutting them  off from their  natural flood plains, had obstacles like rocks and tree roots removed, banks built up and reinforced with giant boulders to prevent their natural meandering etc etc - I think a  bit of beavering could be a good thing  as far as resident fish go. They would create pinch points, scour pools, cover for fish - a more diverse habitat.

Now if the landowner does ANY work on the river he must first consult SEPA who will do an assessment and either grant or refuse a license

That's not a theory, it's a fact.

There have been recent cases of prosecutions of landowners who have chosen to ignore this. Even adding a few rocks here an there without permission will have you up in front of The Beak, cap in hand. You can't even build a croy on a salmon river now, not without SEPA consent.

How do random unplanned and unlicensed beaver modifications of watercourses fit in with this master plan?

[Allan Crawford]

They won't