Born and bred proud Christian Gibo. I just don't practice hypocrisy.

You haven't seen me grumpy yet mate. You'll know I'm grumpy because it's usually followed by a banning. ;o)

Nothing wrong with being proud of what you believe....I believe I've believed it longer than you buddy, I just don't have time for people who SPRUIK their stuff. It annoys me. I'm human, and fallible, and know it. I don't pretend I'm better than others because of something going on in my head and soul.

What I believe is between me and God. It's got nothing to do with anyone else.

Anyway, back to the swans...

Well,well,well, very little has changed, but i do admire the spirit.( smile)
Its seem the world does not get the idea that we humans are the invaders and not the wildlife, but once mankind has destroyed the food chain, only then the crashing reality of our billions will come to light.

So! now the swans! I wonder what is next? I also wonder if anyone is seeing that we are shooting ourselves in the head.

In a smaller world this would not happen.

Just a thought.

And hello to all.

EVO

I share your concerns Cuphandle.

There have been a lot of similar problems in north Queensland with flying foxes in lychee orchards, and becoming a public nuisance with their colonisation of a park in the middle of Charters Towers.

But after a protracted battle, farmers were prevented from shooting them http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/horticulture/general/flying-fox-cull-ban-to-shoot-orchardists-in-the-foot/771493.aspx ...and the colony remains in the middle of Charters Towers several years after it became a major issue http://www.ginfo.pl/more/367878,no,culling,of,charters,towers,flying,foxes,,wells.html

So there are ways of living with wildlife that take a fancy to humanised landscapes and crops…without trying to eradicate them.

Permits to kill wildlife, such as is the case with black swans on this occasion, are just ridiculous. If a small number are killed, more will come, all else remaining the same. A cull isn’t the answer unless farmers are going to be allowed to kill all that arrive in the relevant fields.

Without knowing the intimate details, I’d say to the EPA that a licence to cull 90 swans is absurd! Five separate permits to cull an average of 18 swans each! This sounds very much like appeasement of the complainant farmers without the core of the issue being addressed.

Ludwig.
The flying fox issue has a biological solution.
The FF prefer native fruit if available. One smart farmer grew native fruit trees as a border around his crops and in one year reduced his problem of bat damage by as much as 40%

An apple orchard in SA fenced and bred up a mixture of native animals i.e. bandicoots, numbats etc. and trees. This strategy reduced pest damage and chemical spraying.

The answers are there but the problem is often the farmer and his farming techniques. Farmers tend to think of issues in terms of absolutes rather than the nuances of the environment. In many cases they feel trapped by culture and finance.

I have an idea all the people who dont like those birds being shot should chip in $50 per week too feed them! Then the farmer wont have to pay out of his pocket to feed the birds! And he wont have to shoot them! So everybody will be happy

If you dont agree to this it proves that you are not interested in solving the problem which obviously the farmer takes very seriously and are merely full of empty talk and windbaging which is typical in hypocrites .

I am sure the good people who run OLO would be happy to help organize a fund by all you do gooders out there to help save these flying rats.

Put your money where your mouth is or shutup and let the farmer get on with running his farm

I suggest that the farmer has exaggerated a bit. A few swans wont break his budget. Maybe he just likes to blast with his gun. Many farmers look for opportunities to bring out the gun and blast Gods Creation. John Howard did right to remove many of the guns.
Pity Defence wasnt bright enough to compensate for the loss by putting an equivalent number back in their Defence cupboard.