In reply to Post #277
I mean by flushing, use of one way gates, leaving gates open, running dogs through the complex that sort of thing

There are few people that keep otters as pets for obvious reasons ... if any are kept, and there are some then they have to have a licence to keep them the same as a zoo in captivity. That is monitored ongoing. Most of those captives are Asian Short Clawed otters and would be illegal to release into the wild as it is a non native species

It is not illegal to release an orphaned otter that has been rehabilitated back into the wild so any prosecution would be unlikely

I personally fully get the amount of distrust and hatred as I experience it every day! Partly, this is down to not understanding some intentions and they are suspicious which is understandable. Portraying the otter wrongly is a pet hate of mine although that said, if its used in the right context then thats fine but its important to make sure its done in the right way

80 waters in Cornwall is worrying - I would be interested to see any evidence you have on that - otters@ukwot.org

Dave

In reply to Post #266
Myself and Skeff had a meeting in London with the head of licencing in NE re trapping and in little over a year we have had over 60 contacts for help and advice. That alone demonstrates a use of the CL36 ...... had that not been in place we would never have had that much contact so the fact that there have been few actual trapping applications submitted is a good thing. Trapping for us is a last resort if we fail to move the otter by other means so, actually its far more of a success than people give it credit for

In reply to Post #242
I agree, I am fully aware that some are dealt with under the radar - everyone knows that!

It still isn't the solution - its just an act of frustration that will eventually lead to someone being fined or imprisoned

In reply to Post #239
James, Buzzards are not in same category ... otters are protected under schedule 5/6 of the W & C act and are also a listed EPS species. Whether that's right or wrong, I'm sure there are many that will fear for angling if one is ever caught doing so. Whilst we know it happens, it will eventually lead to very bad press for angling which is currently whether agreed or not is and always will be classed as a bloodsport no matter what and the backlash that it would cause is, something that I personally would not want to see.

I have said many times before on other pages that control or culling will not make any difference, even if you got rid of all otters you will still have predation and the otter would simply be replaced by another predator - the next one the chai if you like

In reply to Post #236
Your missing the point ... dealing with or culling otters is nothing like any other predator. Their behaviour is very complex and is nothing like that of fox, badger, rabbit or rat.

There are closed seasons in place for most species because there are set times of year for breeding - with otters there is not, they can produce young at any time of year.

Agree that illegal removal takes place and that worries me - more so because I was brought up with angling and the first person to actually get caught doing it will end angling as we know and love it and for that reason alone it should not be encouraged

Problem is, if you remove otters from one area the void will be filled within weeks so back to square one

In reply to Post #233
Because a "controlled" cull would not be controlled and you have to prove that culling would show that it contributes to the solution of a problem. Given that it would have no effect by culling just some from one or two areas, then this will never be granted by law. How would you exercise the cull? How/which animals would you select for culling? How would you ensure that your not culling a female that's lactating cubs? How many would you cull? How would you know what the actual population was in the proposed cull area? What ratios (male/female) would you cull?