THE weather has been turning foggy and wet as the autumn proceeds but this has not deterred the countryside students at Craven College from going out beating. For those of you that don’t know, beating is the process of driving game birds towards the waiting guns and the game shooting season is in full swing.

Whilst many of you may not agree with this traditional sport, it cannot be argued that the landscape and wildlife of the Craven area would be very different today if this sport did not take place.

Many of our small woodlands and copses would have been uprooted and used for agriculture years ago if they did not also provide cover for game birds. The moorlands of the Craven area would also look very different if grouse shooting did not occur as they would probably be very heavily grazed by sheep and heather would have probably been almost eradicated if the land had not been actively managed as a grouse shoot.

The red grouse is endemic to (only found in) the UK and if land were not managed for shooting, numbers would be much lower. They require a rich mosaic of young heather to feed on, more open areas for display and denser cover for breeding and to escape predation. This rich mosaic benefits many other species of wildlife as well such as reptiles and many insects. The red grouse cannot be bred in captivity due to the need of the adults for young fresh heather shoots and the young chick’s requirement for a varied diet including fresh insects.

The pheasant was introduced from China and today approximately 30 million of these large distinctive and colourful birds are reared and released in the UK every year. Not all of these are shot but very few go on to successfully breed the following spring (probably due to climate) so the gamekeepers have to breed them in captivity before they are released again ready for the next season.

The red legged (or French) partridge was introduced from Spain and France. It is larger and certainly more colourful than our native grey partridge. Approximately 6.5 million of these delightful little birds are reared and released every year.

Obviously the release of all these introduced birds must have some effect on our native bird populations, after all, once they are released the adult game birds are in direct competition for food with our native birds.

However, on well-run shoots, the provision of extra food for the game species (which our native species also enjoy!) far outweighs the negative impacts. Food is provided in a variety of ways which are beneficial to both the game birds and the native wildlife. Feeders full of corn are often put out, game crops can be planted which not only provide valuable seeds for the birds but they also provide essential cover from predators. On really well-run shoots beetle banks are also provided. These are simply grassy banks left at field margins and across fields that allow insects to overwinter so there is ample supply of insect and other small life in the spring for both our native birds and the game birds. Many of these animals are predatory such as spiders and solitary wasps and so have the added benefit for the farmer of moving into the crops in spring and summer and consuming pests.

Many of our native farmland birds (skylarks, meadow pipits, yellowhammers, siskins etc.) are in serious decline and have been for several years. This is not due to the activities of the gamekeeper but probably due to changing farming practices in order to supply us with the cheap food we have become accustomed to. This has been ongoing since the war.

Changes include making hay to making silage. Silage is cut much earlier in the year and so the birds (many of which are ground nesting) do not have the chance to finish raising their young before the mowers move in. Secondly, the increased use of pesticides which kill the insect food of these birds as well as secondary poisoning of the birds when they eat affected insects and thirdly the move from spring sown wheat to winter sown wheat which means that stubble fields are no longer left through the autumn and winter which would have provided much needed cover and shelter in days gone by. Many of these trends are actually reversed on a good shoot.

This loss of our native birds is exemplified by our own grey partridge which has suffered an 80 per cent decrease in numbers in the last 40 years. Many gamekeepers and shooters are lamenting this loss and have instigated a voluntary ban on shooting them and many shoots are going even further and raising them in captivity to be released back into the wild in an effort to boost their numbers, a measure that costs the shoot money in return for no gain except the enjoyment of seeing this little bird back where it belongs, in our countryside.

One aspect of game management, however, remains somewhat controversial, that of controlling pests and predators. Many years ago gamekeepers would have killed anything that may have had a detrimental effect on game bird numbers including our magnificent birds of prey such as goshawks, hen harriers, eagles and buzzards. This practice has been illegal for many years but even the most ardent supporter of game keepers will acknowledge that there are still a (thankfully decreasing) number of unscrupulous number of shoots where these practices still occur. They are in the minority and rapidly being seen as out dated and unnecessary.

On the vast majority of shoots pest and predator control is carried out in accordance with the law. Indeed, the more enlightened of the game management community are noting recent research that suggests that birds of prey actually target injured or sick game birds (they are much easier for a predator to kill) and can help stop the spread of disease by removing contagious individuals from the population. However large numbers of foxes, weasels and stoats are killed because wherever you release a large number of large tasty meals (in the form of pheasants and partridges) that are not overly predator-aware (especially in the first few weeks after release) you will inevitably attract a large number of predators.

Many people argue that nature should be left to find her natural balance. My thoughts on this are that man has so altered the natural balance in the UK and in the Craven area that there is no longer such thing as a natural balance. We have caused species such as the bear, the wolf and the lynx to become extinct, we have introduced well over 2,000 non-native species, we have altered the landscape through farming and building and we have created new and completely alien habitats.

Whether we like it or not we are a part of a rapidly changing ecosystem and we can only do so much to redress the balance and gamekeepers are an active part of this ecosystem.