Letter: Don’t blame the badgers for the loss of bird species, hedgehogs and bees - overuse of pesticides has had catastrophic effects on wildlife | Bird decline, insect decline and neonicotinoids

To blame the badger for the loss of bird species, hedgehogs and bees is ludicrous. Badgers are carriers, not the cause, of disease. Insensitive farming methods and overuse of pesticides has had a catastrophic effect on our wildlife as a whole. I was born and raised on a farm, a farm where hay meadows were full of wild flowers and our wildlife had fantastic habitats. I would like future generations to be able to see the beauty and diversity of all our British wildlife, but it doesn’t look too good at the moment. We still have a little time to try and rectify the damage we have done, but soon it will be too late for some species, and trying to hide behind a creature and blame it for something it hasn’t done doesn’t help the situation.

Letter from A Morris, Oswestry to the Shropshire Star, published 20th January 2012

Rare birds have completely disappeared from areas of Shropshire’s Clun Valley and badgers have been blamed for destroying nests and eating eggs and young chicks. Frank Whittall, who owns Riddings Anchor Wildlife Site near Anchor on the Shropshire/ Mid Wales border, said his land used to be home to hundreds of ground-nesting birds including curlews, lapwings and skylarks. But he said that last year, for the first time ever, none of these birds were recorded in the area. Mr Whittall, whose family have owned the land since 1923, said; “There used to be hundreds of skylark, lapwings and curlew in the area about 30 years ago.. But the numbers have declined and last year none were recorded on our land. It has happened ever since badgers became protected – they destroy nests and eat young and the eggs. I think there would be a chance of the birds coming back if badgers were culled.” Dunja Roberts, who owns a farm and eight acres of land on the site, said: “I’d support a cull of badgers. I love all animals but you cannot just let nature run wild.”
Source: Shropshire Star, 11th January 2012
Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2012/01/11/badgers-blamed-for-loss-o…