Mink in the Drink

[Peasgood]

Only ever seen one mink and in similar circumstances to the above. The one in my stream was far less timid though, it struck me to have no fear whatsoever and if it had decided to walk up to me and try to eat me I think it would have given it a go.

 

4 hours ago, GarethM said:

Rabbits fall under the general game license, if it's not on the list you can't legally hunt them.

Not quite true or at least not worded correctly. It is the General license and rabbits are not game, hares, grouse, ptarmigan, grouse and pheasants etc are game.

[GarethM]

12 minutes ago, Peasgood said:

Only ever seen one mink and in similar circumstances to the above. The one in my stream was far less timid though, it struck me to have no fear whatsoever and if it had decided to walk up to me and try to eat me I think it would have given it a go.

 

Not quite true or at least not worded correctly. It is the General license and rabbits are not game, hares, grouse, ptarmigan, grouse and pheasants etc are game.

 

Obviously I was trying to generalise, that you can't just kill everything unless you know it's legally permissible.

 

You can even be prosecuted for not controlling rabbits on your land.

 

Also why I highlighted that traps have the be certified, there was a big thing ten years or so ago about knockoffs being sold. As the penalty for even accidentally using them is quite substantial.

[doobin]

The reason for a license to trap crayfish is simple. It’s so people don’t trap the native species in areas where they are just about holding on. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by doobin

[spuddog0507]

There is a few things in this country that should not be here at all , mink from north America, Grey Squirrels from America, signal cray fish from America, all 3 have caused problems with our native wild life,, there are a few other things that should not be in the UK as well but sorry i cant mention them as i would probably get locked up,, 

The signal crayfish make very good eating just use the tails, we used to catch loads on Loch Ken and have a boil up, shelled off back in to a warm pan with a bit of butter and kayam pepper give em a good shake and get themall coated in butter and pepper, quite tasty   

[Bob_z_l]

13 hours ago, roys said:

Why is that Bob? When you don’t need it for the likes of rabbit?

Just asking because I don’t know.

Sorry @roys  I was meaning the Crayfish.  They are a bit like grey squerl.  They over run the local population of crays and I also thought they might have brought some sort of disease too. Need to check that.

[AHPP]

15 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

There is a few things in this country that should not be here at all , mink from north America, Grey Squirrels from America, signal cray fish from America, all 3 have caused problems with our native wild life,, there are a few other things that should not be in the UK as well but sorry i cant mention them as i would probably get locked up,, 

The signal crayfish make very good eating just use the tails, we used to catch loads on Loch Ken and have a boil up, shelled off back in to a warm pan with a bit of butter and kayam pepper give em a good shake and get themall coated in butter and pepper, quite tasty   

 

So signal crayfish are prolific, easy to catch and delicious. Failing to see problem.

[spuddog0507]

1 hour ago, AHPP said:

 

So signal crayfish are prolific, easy to catch and delicious. Failing to see problem.

The signal crayfish grow much larger than our native white clawed crayfish and the signal crayfish is much more aggressive and nearly driven our native crayfish to the brink of extinction, the signal where brought to our island as a food source and farmed and like the mink we had escapes that thrived very well in the wild, and yes they are good eating as they are basically just a mine lobster,,

[eggsarascal]

A bit like saying you don’t see the problem with grey squirrels.

[Paul in the woods]

2 hours ago, AHPP said:

 

So signal crayfish are prolific, easy to catch and delicious. Failing to see problem.

I gather there are a couple of problems, at least things to be aware of, so worth reading through the licencing material. Don't trap or harm natives, don't release live invasive crays and don't use an illegal trap, i.e. one that may trap and kill other wildlife such as otters. (Same thing goes for catching sea crabs and lobsters, many traps sold are not legal and risk killing other wildlife).

[AHPP]

2 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

The signal crayfish grow much larger than our native white clawed crayfish and the signal crayfish is much more aggressive and nearly driven our native crayfish to the brink of extinction, the signal where brought to our island as a food source and farmed and like the mink we had escapes that thrived very well in the wild, and yes they are good eating as they are basically just a mine lobster,,

 

Does the whites being driven out matter though? What were they doing that was so worth preserving?