Baldbloke

I’d forgotten about the State Guardianship bollocks. Bunch of interfering twats

Don’t know if a FAC air rifle would actually cover lower powered air rifles as the one on the FAC would only list the serial no of the high powered one. i have a FAC for rim fire and centre fire rifles and a shotgun licence for my shotguns. I still needed an air rifle licence. Bit of a joke, but maybe an attempt by the government to quantify all firearms in public hands. i think the one air rifle licence does allow more than one, but it won’t include those with a higher muzzle velocity. Those still need a FAC

I haven't had a trap set off without catching a rat yet, but I have had concealed traps exposed each night by the buggers. No captures for two nights now so I'm assuming uncaught rats have sussed out their mates being held by the Fenns and realising these metal things are best avoided. Otherwise, my best guess is that the traps need a total clean and de-humanise as the caught rats have possibly let off a fear/adrenaline scent as they died and it has remained on the traps and is noticeable to new participants. I have a further 12 Victor snap traps on order to swamp the area so hopefully these will help lower the population.

Scotland is still a part of the U.K. you now need a licence for any air rifle/ pistol north of the border

That’s what I said at my 5 year renewal. The SNP wish to fully control every aspect of Scotland’s population. Almost like a dictatorship. The police are only too happy to restrict any aspect of gun ownership too. Scotland already has extra costs over alcohol compared to England and they’re considering sugar tax. On top of that we have differing tax rates for middle earners. Common sense has a habit of being absent when guns are mentioned. The woman would have probably seen a way to get her own back on your mate. Now it’s gone as far as your mate being arrested she’ll know she’ll be in trouble by changing her story to reflect what actually happened [emoji1304]

Well, the fact he does dog training and agility would back up that he loves and understands dogs, and would be very unlikely to use an air rifle on one. BTW we need licences in Scotland for ANY air rifle, and the fact you may have shotgun and FAC is irrelevant. Bloody SNP

Awfully easy for someone with a grudge to make up porkies when the other parties holding a gun. Hopefully your mate didn’t say or action anything to do with the air rifle. The cops love a chance nowadays to practice at armed response. If he’s a member of Countrside Alliance etc he probably pays insurance that could cover the cost of a brief. Even though I’m retired from being a fishing ghillie I still pay my membership into Scottish Gamekeepers for that very reason. Hope it works out

Just found a point of entry into the house after hearing the f****** scrabbling around in the internal wall spaces. The wife had a three foot ornamental planter up against the outside of the wall. There was a route on the underside leading into the house. I’ve now blocked it up but am unsure whether I’ve sealed them in or out of the house. Tonight will tell. Also had two more outside in the Fenn traps overnight. 6 Fenns set plus one live trap. Just ordered a dozen Victor rat traps for the inside too.

Sure it wasn’t a fart that was responsible?

Seven to the traps, two to the dog and another to a gun. going to change the placement of all the traps tomorrow. Clever little fuckers have been exposing the traps that didn’t catch

My neighbouring farmer set a pointed strainer post through my septic tank outflow 2 years ago. Hadn’t had to have the tank emptied before that and didn’t realise that it was the Matbroed installed strainer that had blocked proceedings. Septic tank overflowed but was nearly 80 yards from house and nearer my disliked nearest neighbour so wasn’t in too much of a hurry to investigate. After using the digger to remove about 2 ton of shite from above the tanks covers got the local shit tank emptying company in. He diagnosed that the outflow lined up with the new strainer. A digging job with 2 rubber connectors and a bit of plastic pipe as well as the removal of the strainer and the job was a good one. Even better was the farmer paying for the parts and emptying of the tank[emoji1303]

X27 too, but wish they did a heavier version with a few more inches on the shaft. Good maul, but a bit dinky

A while ago I was a fishing ghillie. I’ve been away from that for 11 years now. In the eighties the local pikeys used to use rabbit gassing powder (Cymag) wrapped up in a hessian bag at the head of the stream to get Salmon and seatrout. Poaching was so bad most ghillies carried the same warrant cards as the two employed bailiffs. They usually used too much and killed everything for a few pools down stream. It deoxygenated the water and the fish basically drowned. Anaemic gills were the clue. They also used nets if the pool didn’t have obstructions. With two bailiffs we twice arrested some guys who we caught red handed. There were some battles trying to apprehend them. We too usually tried to disable any hidden motor beforehand, but they’d often leave someone with it. They rarely got a sentence longer than a month. We once had admitted we went with baseball bats, so had premeditated the aggression. That allowed the fuckers to leave court. It’s no wonder the cops are wary of trying to apprehend these guys on a dark night as sentences are minimal and there’s a good chance of getting hurt or worse.

I should add (like many have mentioned) that I too, am a fan of shorter bars. 18” being the longest

Retired from felling and thinning and would be absolutely fucked if I had to do a full day in the woods on a tonnage basis. I only have two regularly go to saws. One of which is the above 365 special Husky. Low tuned, reliable but heavy, and an old 260 which suits my age and a longer working day.

The wife has ordered what’s recommended for commercial use so hopefully even more unpleasant for Roland.

Been there and done that. We used to have a dog that could indicate where the f****** had died. I remember two in particular. One under the Aga in the kitchen and another in the bedrooms en suite wall. The wife was all for moving out until we discovered their whereabouts [emoji3]

Apologies for accidentally removing my “like”on your post by using my phone. Thanks for all the replies! Update: Because we started to hear them in the house we have given the better chooks away and dispatched the others in order to not have food available for the fuckers. Burnt all the sheds/coops etc. The dog got three and I shot two. MK6 Fenns have also had two so far, and I have 4 more smaller MK4s on order. The wife’s screams made it quite tricky to shoot the escapees as I was pissing myself. Wild Bird feeders now have plant pot drainers screwed to the bottom of each feeder to save food falling to ground. I won’t be doing the bait test necessary to buy adequately strong poison in adequate quantities for two reasons: I deeply resent the EU determining what I can and can’t buy. Also I’ve had rats die in internal house wall cavities in the past. The smell alone made the house untenable. Lesson learned when you have rats within the walls So, with abundant traps and no food around I’m hoping the population will diminish or go away. One sole bonus is I have yet to catch a mouse this year in spite of setting 18 mouse traps in attic and two in the kitchen I usually get between 20 and 80 mice over an autumn

My son in NZ uses it as his main social network. I find it a bit tricky to get the best out of it. I get the impression that pictures are more appreciated than words....

You would have needed this one hundred years ago

Very interested how we all ended up involved with tree work or firewood. It was fairly obvious in another thread how there was a common theme how most wound up working with trees. Before that, I believed I was an oddity, and believed my work history to be very different from the norm until I’d read all your posts. So, let’s hear about your skills whether they are through certification, apprenticeship or competency on DIY. I’ll kick off with a chance to brag. Panel beater through apprenticeship and a decade or so of ongoing self employment. In the past have painted a couple of show winning cars as well as for insurance work. Competent mechanic. Offshore specialising in diesel. Fully service and repair my own six vehicles. Change and balance my own tyres. Once had a PPL but haven’t kept it up over the last 30 years as too costly. Occasionally get the chance of an hour or two under supervision and hope to do a cheaper licence such as for gliding or a gyrocopter. No bricklayer, but good enough for stone walling. Can plaster without needing to rub down the efforts prior to painting. Not quick but have done entire rooms. Reasonable blacksmithing skills, and have previously made double gates without a welder being required. Welding. Mig, tig, stick and Oxy/acetylene. Basic skills with a lathe. Turning and screw cutting. Able to use an English Wheel, shaper and rolls. Basic but safe tree cutting skills. Fairly competent at sharpening chains and other cutting tools including large drills. Can ride a horse, fence, work a digger and dozer. Competent with a shotgun and rifle. BLS and a few other basic skills recently picked up through NHS employment. Some of you will have more than what I’ve picked up over my 60 years so let’s hear them[emoji1303]

What is apparent reading through all these posts is that there is lots of other practical skill sets amongst chopping up trees.

I usually only tell people about my working life if they are interested. As you say, most youngsters can’t get their head around it. However, if you saw my mothers fathers career it would make even the most interesting ones mundane

Still young and plenty of time to replicate a similar CV to many on here[emoji3]