roadkill

[PKLD]

driving along from dufftown to inverness - nice drive in the limited sun but...

WTF! there were loads and i mean loads of dead things on the road and I saw 2 birds beings hit by cars coming towards me. seriously weird, counted 2 badgers, 3 deer, fox and about 15 pheasants amoungst other UFO (unidentified flattened objects)

that is all - carry on!

[ViperPict]

Is your freezer full now?

[PKLD]

[AndyAudi]

They wouldn't have gritted the road for the first time in a while would they? I know the animals sometimes go for the salt.

[IainW]

Driving to work yesterday, someone coming the other way hit a pheasant very gently, but it still sent it flying over to my side of the road in a cloud of feathers. Luckily I was a bit further back, so I avoided the chaos. Not a nice thing to see!

[Kays vRS]

I was in the area around Fort Augustus last week and there were small groups of pheasants wandering around all over the place. I'm not sure how I didn't splat any as they seem to love roads.

[munroman]

I'm not sure if it's a mating thing or not with pheasants, but they seem to enjoy trying to show that they are 'hard' and shape up to cars.

It usually doesn't end well, a few years ago we went from Perth to Dunkeld in April, and the roads were littered with the bodies of male pheasants, Darwin in action!

[VetteG]

Lots of young pheasants about just now since the shooting season for them is just starting not the most intellegent of birds!

G

[ViperPict]

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

[bigblock]

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

Well it's probably a bit more sporting than running them over

[ViperPict]

bigblock said:

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

Well it's probably a bit more sporting than running them over

The sport is in trying NOT to run them over!

[VetteG]

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

No they are not kept in pens until the shooting season starts! They are raised from chicks in pens which are open at the top, i.e. the pens are effectively a 6ft high fence to protect the chicks from foxes, mink etc. As soon as they are able to fly they can leave the pens, many do return to the pens, especially at night because of the security and food, but from the time they can fly, they are free to roam where they want and hence the excessive road kill at this time of year.

G

[Rog B]

It awlays puzzles me how there are still so many rabbits and pheasants/grouse when you see so many dead ones, there must be plenty spare!

Edited by Rog B on Tuesday 5th October 10:55

[sherman]

Rog B said:

It awlays puzzles me how there are still so many rabbits and pheasants/grouse when you see so many dead ones, there must be plenty spare!

Because some of the big estates and large shoots put a few thousand new ones out each year. Even the small shoots put out a couple of hundred.

What Vetteg has said is completely correct.

[ViperPict]

VetteG said:

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

No they are not kept in pens until the shooting season starts! They are raised from chicks in pens which are open at the top, i.e. the pens are effectively a 6ft high fence to protect the chicks from foxes, mink etc. As soon as they are able to fly they can leave the pens, many do return to the pens, especially at night because of the security and food, but from the time they can fly, they are free to roam where they want and hence the excessive road kill at this time of year.

G

Was that not basically what I was saying?!

[sherman]

ViperPict said:

VetteG said:

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

No they are not kept in pens until the shooting season starts! They are raised from chicks in pens which are open at the top, i.e. the pens are effectively a 6ft high fence to protect the chicks from foxes, mink etc. As soon as they are able to fly they can leave the pens, many do return to the pens, especially at night because of the security and food, but from the time they can fly, they are free to roam where they want and hence the excessive road kill at this time of year.

G

Was that not basically what I was saying?!

No because they are not kept locked away until the 1st of October the pheasants have been running/flying around the shoots for about a month or more now finding their favorite hiding spots and scratching around for their food.

[ViperPict]

sherman said:

ViperPict said:

VetteG said:

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

No they are not kept in pens until the shooting season starts! They are raised from chicks in pens which are open at the top, i.e. the pens are effectively a 6ft high fence to protect the chicks from foxes, mink etc. As soon as they are able to fly they can leave the pens, many do return to the pens, especially at night because of the security and food, but from the time they can fly, they are free to roam where they want and hence the excessive road kill at this time of year.

G

Was that not basically what I was saying?!

No because they are not kept locked away until the 1st of October the pheasants have been running/flying around the shoots for about a month or more now finding their favorite hiding spots and scratching around for their food.

Their pens are available to them until and after shooting starts, no? But there are definitely some estates that effectively keep them penned in until the shooting season. Non-indigenous species anyway - run them over at every chance you get!

Edited by ViperPict on Tuesday 5th October 17:08

[MGZRod]

ViperPict said:

bigblock said:

ViperPict said:

They're kept in pens until shooting season starts. As such they are not savvy to anything, let alone roads and traffic. Can't see how shooting them can be regarded as any sort of sport...

Well it's probably a bit more sporting than running them over

The sport is in trying NOT to run them over!

Especially if you go all Ken Block on them, yank on handbrake and donut around them as they walk then drive off sideways.

[VetteG]

sherman said:

the pheasants have been running/flying around the shoots for about a month or more now finding their favorite hiding spots and scratching around for their food.

More like a couple of months or more! Bare in mind that without any shooting, a pheasant will normally only survive for 2 winters in the wild.

Our first shoot is Saturday, only mature high flying birds will be shot at (we sometimes miss )

Any of the Edinlushers need a brace between now and the end of January, just give me a shout.

G

[sherman]

VetteG said:

sherman said:

the pheasants have been running/flying around the shoots for about a month or more now finding their favorite hiding spots and scratching around for their food.

More like a couple of months or more! Bare in mind that without any shooting, a pheasant will normally only survive for 2 winters in the wild.

Our first shoot is Saturday, only mature high flying birds will be shot at (we sometimes miss )

Any of the Edinlushers need a brace between now and the end of January, just give me a shout.

G

I should be fine as my dad will be getting a ready supply of duck,pheasant and if they can find any of them some partridge. (They only released a few of them though)

So do you now have a pass to come back out to the Edinlushes?