f k Country Life
BY IAN NIALL
ONE reads from time to time of the efforts Made to acquire land and create new wild-life sanctuaries, which, from almost every point of view, are a most worthwhile objective. One aspect of the making of sanctuaries that is rather overlooked is that the harbouring of 1 birds that may be coveted or considered natural enemies by some people leads to keener persecution. This happens to a lesser degree in the case of rooks. Rooks in protected ,rookeries, or those where the owners of the land refuse to allow anyone to shoot them, are generally ruthlessly treated in the surrounding countryside. Fruit growers who have an aver- sinn for some birds, bullfinches in particular, ate likely to intensify their efforts against them ■ I there is a possibility of these birds multiply- ing on safe ground. On the fringes of sanc- tuaries there will always be those who are out 'bag bag straying wildfowl with a gun. Something 'e the same state of affairs arises in localities "ere there are forestry tracts giving shelter to Magpies, jays, crows, pigeons, etc. Control Inside these places is very difficult and the Pe, °I3le round about are often very hard on vermin as a result, which might be in the national interest if it meant that they were d °ing anything but holding their own.
Previous page
