Ray fan arrested for killing pigeon to eat

[firecrest]

Dear oh dear While I don't think its a great idea for teenagers to go battering pigeons with their skateboards, with rays `Wild Food` book under their arm, the response is well over the top.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ath-skateboard-busy-city-centre-home-eat.html

How come its illegal to kill a pigeon in the town centre but legal to shoot one in the countryside, if it is an offense to kill a wild bird?

 

[Tengu]

Um, its the daily mail...

 

[Shewie]

Dear oh dear While I don't think its a great idea for teenagers to go battering pigeons with their skateboards, with rays `Wild Food` book under their arm, the response is well over the top.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ath-skateboard-busy-city-centre-home-eat.html

How come its illegal to kill a pigeon in the town centre but legal to shoot one in the countryside, if it is an offense to kill a wild bird?

I must have missed that episode, I wonder if it's in the DVD extras ?

I can just imagine Gordon doing an ollie 180* turn with a reverse rail grind and taking out a pigeon in mid flight.

 

[firecrest]

I must have missed that episode, I wonder if it's in the DVD extras ?

I can just imagine Gordon doing an ollie 180* turn with a reverse rail grind and taking out a pigeon in mid flight.

Its a shame because that was the best episode.

 

[Wallenstein]

Heh... reminds me of the Rough Close meet a while back when the rumour went around that a bunch of weirdoes were "pulling the heads of live rabbits".

It was actually a few (dead!) wood pigeons being plucked but that didn't seem to affect the story!

 

[Mesquite]

Um, its the daily mail...

What's that got to do with it?

If you read ther full article you'll see that the Daily Mail have picked up the story from Exeter Echo and run it virtually word for word.

 

[johnnytheboy]

I blame television, the way these kids act these days

 

[British Red]

How come its illegal to kill a pigeon in the town centre but legal to shoot one in the countryside, if it is an offense to kill a wild bird?

All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

From year to year, a general licence can be issued to allow that certain species of birds can be killed under specific circumstances in specific ways by persons authorised by the landowner.

This individual broke the law in three ways:

1) He was not authorised by the landowner
2) Bludgeoning to death with a skateboard is not an authorised method of taking problem birds
3) The circumstances aloowing the killing of the wild bird were not met (e.g. prevention of crop damage, risk to human health etc.)

Red

 

[apj1974]

How come its illegal to kill a pigeon in the town centre but legal to shoot one in the countryside, if it is an offense to kill a wild bird?

It sounds like he was on private land, therefore he would have needed the landowners permission.

 

[Neumo]

Well if you start killing God's little cute animals in front of the townies then what did he expect was going to happen? Sounds about right. He should have gone to the butchers if he wanted to taste peigeon (if he could not afford a restuarnt) or gone out of the town to meet some people who could have shown him how to do it properly... with a 12 bore.

On a more serious note, are pigeons in the towns the same species as the wood pigeon so beloved of farmers? i.e. are they the ones on the DEFRA vermin list? As I understand it, you can kill the ones pigeons on the vermin list if you can prove they are causing damage to crops, land etc... I wonder if the same rules apply to pigeons in towns, which are controlled, in many places, by registered vermin conrollers but they do it in the middle of the night so not to offend people. I know someone who had a shoot many years ago in a fanous london square.

 

[firecrest]

thanks for clearing that up Red. But one more question -
How come its ok for the bus drivers to run them over then?!!

 

[verloc]

yummmy - killing Ray fans to eat - my favourite, oh hang on a minute I think I may have misread that one

 

[tobes01]

You need to look carefully in the Bushcraft Survival DVD extras. Ray carves a skateboard from a length of cedar wood using a crook knife. Apparently the technique was used by aboriginal tribesmen in the Exeter area for hunting feral pigeons.

Personally I find scooter works much better, you can get a great swing using the handle. Needs a length of hazel to fashion the handlebars though.

Has anyone had any hunting luck using roller skates carved from pine?

 

[Lurch]

On a more serious note, are pigeons in the towns the same species as the wood pigeon so beloved of farmers?

No. They are feral 'racing' pigeons. Indistinguishable from Rock Doves (protected!) by the way.

 

[Firebringer]

Can't help wondering if his court hearing was anything like the one in Blackadder IV.

 

[apj1974]

Has anyone had any hunting luck using roller skates carved from pine?

I only use ice skates, nice and sharp - but its not cold enough yet. Perhaps a clean decapitation whilst doing a tripple salchow would have gone down better with the public.

 

[tobes01]

can't help wondering if his court hearing was anything like the one in blackadder iv.

he killed my speckled jim!

 

[Rumcajs]

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 states that it is an offence to kill any bird - including pigeons - unless a licence is held, but section one allows exemption if an organisation or individual complies with general licence regulations.

"Subject to the provisions of this section, a person shall not be guilty of an offence under section 1 by reason of the killing or taking of a bird included in Part I of Schedule 2 outside the close season for that bird, or the injuring of such a bird outside that season in the course of an attempt to kill it."

 

[tobes01]

To be fair, anyone who goes round belting birds with skateboards deserves a slap themselves. It clearly wasn't a clean kill, and I can't condone that, even for a flying rat.

 

[Mesquite]

To be fair, anyone who goes round belting birds with skateboards deserves a slap themselves. It clearly wasn't a clean kill, and I can't condone that, even for a flying rat.

That just about sums it up really.