Predator Control

All ground nesting birds, which use the moors as a sanctuary to nest and rear their young, are very vulnerable to foxes, carrion crows, mustelids (stoats, weasels and mink) and other predators. A moor keeper spends much of his time ensuring that those it is legal to control are kept in check.

There is a wide range of legal and humane methods of predator control. Foxes, for example can be controlled effectively by shooting at night, using a lamp to attract and identify the target and a high calibre rifle to complete the kill quickly and humanely. Carrion crows and other corvids can be caught in crow and Larsen traps. These 'live' traps have the advantage that any protected species they might catch can be released unharmed, while the target species can be killed. Mustelids are controlled using a mixture of tunnel and stop traps, and it is a requirement that keepers visit all their traps on a daily basis. It is essential that members of the public finding these devices leave them well alone.

Studies have shown that ground nesting birds can be up to five times more abundant on keepered moors than on moors not keepered for grouse. Studies are now being carried out by the Game Conservancy Trust at Otterburn to establish whether that correlation can be definitely attributed to control of predators. Click here to view (pdf).

It is widely acknowledged that predator control accounts for the comparative abundance of a number of ground nesting birds on grouse moors, when compared with un-keepered heather moorland, and the Game Conservancy Trust is conducting trials at Otterburn to prove the extent and benefit of the correlation. Although foxes and carrion crows are a problem for sheep, it is difficult for the hill farmer on his own to justify the necessary time to control them. However, where there is a grouse shooting interest to finance employment of a keeper, control can be carried out and the sheep, as well as ground nesting birds, benefit.