The Blame Game

Sky-dancer in an Angus glen - pastel on paper 19/11/23

 

There is nothing worse than to be blamed for something that you did not do and, from personal experience, there is little that you can do about it such is the power of calumny. Folk with malicious intent to discredit an individual seem to be above the law, and prosecution, to the extent that it becomes a sort of bullying without reprimand dished out by the intangible version of the playground bully.

calumny ; the making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to damage their reputation.

Sketching today 19/11/23

The arrows of calumny become an expected sufferance, such is the goodness of the victim and the chance to clear your name is shrouded in abject pointlessness until that point of accepting every lie invented against you becomes fact, in the minds of others and unfortunately in your own mind; the molehill of lies becomes the mountain of deceit. 

I mind of one, twisted parks department employee in Brechin that started his voyage of calumny against me because he swore that I had abused him verbally while being reprimanded for playing golf on the local football pitch; I have never played golf in my life.

I mind of some raptor study group members, full of jealous malintent, stating that I disturbed the local eagles because I walked the glen path where they lived and included zoom photographs of eagles on this blog; my 'disturbance' is minimal compared to raiding eyries to ring, satellite tag or indeed steal pre-fledged eagles from the parent birds. Instead of nurturing my interest they lampooned my character but ironically, I have heard, try to decipher this blog for information on local raptors.

Golden Eagle 19/11/23

Now, examples having been set, I will endeavour to broaden the picture to include an injustice being perpetrated on a professional body at this time. A criminal sent to prison usually gets a second chance to right his wrongs and turn over a new page to start again in society but what if the total of all crimes ever committed were burdened on that individual who stole a loaf of bread to feed his family ..... sounds familiar does it not?

The under-represented body of professionals are game-keepers who consistently soak up the punches to the chin thrown by an ever increasing tidal swell against them. Raptor persecution, heather burning, snaring, trapping, shooting and servants to the rich are only some of the destructive jibes used to demonise a professional body that in effect manages the land to maintain a balance between sporting demands and wildlife. 

Game-keepers are employed by shooting syndicates and land owners to maintain a source of game birds or animals to shoot ..... simple enough, or is it? Most keepers and their families are linked by their jobs to a tied house given in lieu of their service to the employer and therein lies a problem of job security and family assurance. The employer, in some cases, makes demands on the keeper to ensure a certain return on their sporting investment, such as guaranteeing that a certain percentage of game is delivered in the bag, so to speak. Game birds bought in might be subject to a stipulation that 60 out of 100 are shot and the rest as wasted to road-kill or predation.

Kestrel 19/11/23

Note that, in general, the game-keeping profession and not the shooting estate owner is singled out for calumny that sullies the reputation of shooting estates or grouse moors. The fact that keepers carry out predator control, heather burning, snaring and trapping on behalf of the owner seems to be neatly overlooked by those who throw the stones of calumny that in effect are slowly killing a traditional way of life that is only distastful to a minority. 

Many years ago a friend thought that the fate of the persecuted Hen Harrier would be the downfall of estates and game-keeping, and how right he was. The tool of destruction has been harrier and eagle persecution and that tool has been wielded by conservation organisations and anti-shooting campaigners who employ satellite tagging as an 'infallible' method to uncover alleged raptor persecution especially on grouse moors; flying in the face of justice, police just tag along with what they are told by the satellite tagging authority. Satellite tagging is a cruel encumberance to the bird and is by no means infallible as witnessed many times by myself and others. 

Most allegations of raptor persecution are derived from satellite transmitter data where a transmitter fails to echo because of poor battery charge, aerial damage, cold weather circuit malfunction or transmits from one fix over a period or simply vanishes from the radar leading to the usual report of a harrier or eagle that has 'vanished in suspicious circumstances'. The 'suspicious circumstances' tag seems to have been adopted by satellite tagging authorities within bird protection organisations and police for attention seeking press releases to further cast aspersions on the activities of game-keepers; many presumptuous allegations become unjust conclusions because the raptor was frequenting a grouse moor managed by game-keepers. Raptors persecuted by shepherds or pigeon racers seem to escape the calumny suffered by the game-keeping profession.

Red Deer 19/11/23

Yes, raptors have been persecuted illegally on grouse moors, and will continue to be persecuted in some way or another by a whole raft of folk in varying professions outwith active grouse moors but these moors continue to be the scapegoat to rid the country of a traditional way of life, to re-wild our lands for ecological benefit, and to make way for green developments by swapping peat nurturing heather for wind turbine concrete or conifer plantation ..... the 'gold rush' for carbon off-setting is here and the green light from Scottish government is at 'go' to destroy miles of precious, carbon hugging peat moorland to achieve a 'net-zero' carbon footprint ..... stupid methinks.

Red Kite 19/11/23

Ok, lethal control targeting one predatory species to improve numbers of others for shooting purposes riles many folk, and when that lethal control is legal it still riles many folk who sometimes take matters into their own hands by destroying legitimate cage and spring traps or wire snares; new legislation from Scottish government is coming that will make it illegal to interfere with set traps but with the same stroke of the bureaucratic pen intends to make snares illegal, and heather burning a licensed activity. Lethal control of ground predators like the unprotected Red Fox or Stoat certainly helps ground nesting birds to thrive but the good from that is quickly erased when a protected species like the Pine Marten is allowed to run amok amongst nesting birds like the Capercaillie, and even the White-tailed Eagle.

So the tools at the disposal of land managing game-keepers in Scotland is diminishing, cut by cut, year on year. In my opinion, some control on heather burning might just benefit the moorlands of Angus because some horrific, uncontrolled burning has taken place in the past that has destroyed acres of heather leaving massive, exposed scars on hillsides that quite frankly have not returned to heather cover.  

Nevertheless, heather burning is another scapegoat for ignorant calumny against grouse moor management because many misleading statements are made that heather burning actually burns the underlying peat carbon store and, as I have found, that is not true.

Shrew carcass 19/11/23

Ask the people what they want ..... re-phrase that ..... ask the local people of Scotland what they want and you will find that the hills and glens of Angus for example are just what they want, hill farms, shooting estates and all. Thousands of visitors flock to the glens for the visual amenity, to experience the moors and hills, to view nature, to walk over the very mountain moors that 'some' want to change, and those 'some' have big voices, influential voices, celebrity voices that 'pack' a punch, and certainly are the interfering voices from 'down south' that have rarely, if ever, set foot on a Scottish moor.  

Taking heed of local opinion is good. Opinions forged by experience on the land whether it be work or field-sport or leisure or nature watching are invaluable to determine a future for the land but unfortunately, by devious intent or ignorance, much of that hard earned experience and wisdom is side-stepped by those who have political influence. For example, the Scottish government acknowledges the experience, and help, of game-keepers when it comes to controlling wildfire outbreaks but will limit heather burning activity on the moors that they personally manage by red taped licence.  

Red Deer 19/11/23

Talk of re-wilding that which is already wild makes little sense to me and the idealised picture of trees regenerating on our hillsides that is touted by campaigners is already happening in many areas; segregate sheep and deer from a moor and hey presto saplings, especially Birch, begin to sprout within a few years. Some estates are planting native trees and some are introducing game cover planting but I can mention one local project to plant broad leaves along the banks of a glen river to help fish spawning ..... that project cost a lot and failed miserably ..... and the omen is, 'The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley'.  

I do feel sorry that the game-keeping profession is not better represented by supporting organisations and politicians. Many have tried to argue their case on behalf of the profession but fail to carry the obsessive, media crunching clout needed to really change attitudes and opinions. Many estate owners conduct themselves as if from a different world when legislative reality threatens the future of their sporting land-holdings to leave survival arguing to those on the ground. As I have known in my soul, those of the raw land meet their fate without complaint and are not fond of justifying their meek existence.

The prestige of seasonal Red Deer stag stalking that supports many highland estates is being eroded away by new legislation that will allow stags to be culled all year and consequently will reduce that Monarch of the Glen status to not much more than being a pest. Might estates introduce stag stalking at any time of the year to boost revenues or will they keep to the traditional season; post rut stags are usually in poor condition with meat that is not prime according to some and to support all year stag stalking deer reproduction and population would have to increase dramatically.

Ravens off to roost (17 count) 19/11/23

At the end of the day who will get the blame for destroying the tradition and experience wrapped up in Scottish shooting estates. Will it be the politicians fuelled by green misinformation, or the anti-shooting campaigners fired up against raptor persecution, or a demise coming from within when the fight is lost and disillusionment pervades the game-keeping profession or land owners selling out to forestry and the wind-farm, or the one or two criminals within the game-keeping profession that keep on flouting the law to persecute raptors, or will it be nature that has a final say? 

Red Grouse are notorious for having a fluctuating population but recently a continuing decline has so far been inexplicable, and with a complete lack of Mountain Hares in some areas that once had large populations a few years ago there are questions to be asked about the ecological viability of moorland and its wildlife ..... so will nature itself drive the final nail into the coffin of traditional highland shooting estates ..... only the future can tell.

All text, photographs and sketch done on 19/11/23  (unless dated otherwise) and subject to copyright - no reproduction.

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If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Lapwing, Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Snipe, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs on leads at all times especially when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range ZR distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.