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Otters

"...practical measures that could be taken? A long shot I acknowledge."

Long shot? A short shot straight to the head is just as effective..
 
Long shot? A short shot straight to the head is just as effective..:D:D:D:D:D
 
Just spent the last year looking into the problems on my local river. Alot of people said the barbel were dissapearing because the otters were eating them, even very well known barbel anglers said the river was finished...... of course blaming the otters.....easy for them to just lay blame and move onto pastures new.

All the info I've come across from the EA and help from chaps on here as made me realise what problems we face now. They are wide ranging and in all honesty it does look like it's too late to reverse the decline on this river. One things for sure the otters are on my local river and it's definitely not there fault for the decline in fish stocks....its ours.

Cheers
Jason
 
Hi men ,

Jason , not to blame ?. Perhaps not , contributing yes ,and defiantly highlighting the poor state of our rivers .

Hatter
 
One things for sure the otters are on my local river and it's definitely not there fault for the decline in fish stocks....its ours.

Cheers
Jason

"Its ours", well it ain't my fault:eek:, I'm so conscientious and caring I don't even urinate in the river when I pee around attempting to fish it:rolleyes:.
 
Colin...you **** don't you?
Colin...you don't vote for the Green Party...do you?
Colin...you a member of freinds of the Earth?
Colin are you a member of the WWF?...that's not the wrestling site!
Colin...we all live and contribute to a society that is consuming it's own environment

good to here you aint ****ing in the river though!

Cheers
Jason
 
Colin...you **** don't you?
Yeah but I put it on my maize grown in my raised garden, to avoid toxins entering the earth.;)

Colin...you don't vote for the Green Party...do you?
Possibly, maybe, if I'd of had the foresight could have stood as our local candidate.:p

Colin...you a member of freinds of the Earth?
Well if they hadn't barred me from their forum and website, who knows??:eek:

Colin are you a member of the WWF?...that's not the wrestling site!
Are but the wrestling organisation is now renamed WWE, since name change, no.:rolleyes:

Colin...we all live and contribute to a society that is consuming it's own environment
Me, I live in my own fantasy world fuelled by an excess of Afghan weed and other illicit substances.:eek:

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
Colin...we all live and contribute to a society that is consuming it's own environment
Me, I live in my own fantasy world fuelled by an excess of Afghan weed and other illicit substances:eek:

:D:D:D:D:D:D


That explains it all :D
 
"..Im just abit concerned that once the bigger female fish are killed it will have a big affect on future fish stocks especially in rivers where fish stocks are already not as they used to be due to various reasons......."
Regards Craig.

Craig
You have no need to worry about the future barbel stocks, at least not in the Bedfordshire Ouse. the AV regularly re-stock with hundreds of 9" fish.
Then the otters don't stand a chance as the pike, mink and cormorants take their toll.:rolleyes:
 
I'm watching halycon river diaries now. Phillips forester saying how she will find it difficult to kill every mink they come across in order to control numbers and stop them eating everything.

That's an interesting statement on a bbc1 nature/conservation program.
 
I think actually Simon King off Springwatch stated in the last serious that all alien species of introduced animals such as mink should be eradicated as they have no place in the UK eco system. He also referred to the ruddy duck and the effect on mallards by inter breeding. Otters I'm afraid are no go area even though Halycon river showed an otter attacking ducklings.
 
I watched a bit of it. Some nice shots of Kingfishers.

But this is nature-lite by the BBC. It is much more an exercise in showing off a certain set of smug middle class values in a rural idyll. These types of show are becoming as widespread as cookery programmes. Or otters.
 
The Chairman on Monday

Yes, as young Paul alluded last night in his Halcyon thread in Viewpoint. I am in the process of pitching a new series, Escape To Boomer Country For a Bargain With Well-Bred Kirsty Allsop In a Morris Countryman and on Steam Trains With a Perfect Family Plus Some Juicy Grub and Heirloom Antiques. Sure to be a hit with those poor dupes who believe it is their right to lead elegant, self-regarding lifestyles and get all shirty when they can't.


As ever,

B.B. ("The Beauchamps - Having Their Cake and Eating It - and telling those less fortunate that they really should do the same - since 1066")
 
put any predator on a farm that endangers the farms stock and its almost certain that farmer will seek a quick end to the predator as its costing him a lump of his financial investment,
if i had a fishery i would take same stance and to hell with laws that threaten my honest assets....j.w
 
Unfortunately a few weeks ago, and this was not deliberate, my 2 Terriers came across a mink, which in a matter of seconds was quickly dispatched. Would i be liable if my dogs accidentally came across an Otter???
Lets get something straight here before i get barracked on an open forum, i will certainly not be hunting Otter, before anyone jumps to that conclusion.

Jon
 
That could be a very big problem for we fishers, Jon - the guy with a terrier / hound or two who just happened to have an unfortunate "accident" with an otter...

Imagine Ms Forrester going all dewy eyed for the camera and talking about how fishermen were selfishly and callously breaking all the rules just to protect their fish (only one up from slugs in the public's eyes). Or Chris Packham in one of the Watch series really sticking in his former Punk stiletto...
 
The hunting otter seems to have taken 7 of the 10 ducklings in one hit, and the mother + the remaining 3 could not be found again!
The pond was also empty of fish!
Down here in Dorset, many anglers and residents have also noticed the dissapearance of coots and moorhens etc.
I just hope the RSPB/EA/NE and others were looking in on the programme.
to where it shows just what happens when the otters deplete the fish stocks, voles and virtually any bankside inhabitant that dares to move.
The menu could be endless!...Ray
 
So Ray what would you suggest as appropriate action that could / should be taken to deal with the otter issue?

Bearing mind, hunting will never be legalised and re-homing otters into captivity is far worse than even stocking barbel into stillwaters, as to take any animal out of its natural habitat that may stretch 20 miles and place it in an enclosure of a few hundred square metres at best. (not ideal)
Verging on cruelty, IMO.

Relocating onto another river, well NIMBY (not in my back yard) springs to mind!
 
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