iclark@netherholm.sol.co.uk
Tel: +44(0)1698 885206

PIGEONS & VERMIN

Welcome to the section on vermin.

The first thing you need to know is that there is no such thing as ‘vermin’. We use the word to mean species of birds and animals which cause us problems in some way, but different people have different ideas about what should be controlled, why and how.

Birds
All birds are protected by law, although some species may be killed or taken legally under certain circumstances, as shown below.

Mammals
All mammals except for rabbits, rats & mice and some species of ‘mustelids’ (mink, stoats and weasels) are protected by various laws, and many cannot be killed or interfered with in any way without a license issued by the Government or its agencies. The remainder can only be killed or taken in certain specific ways, and the regulations covering this are shown below.

Birds
Since all birds are protected by law, there are exemptions to allow shooting for sport, which cover the species commonly known as ‘game’ or ‘wildfowl’, and information on these ‘quarry species’ can be found under game shooting or wildfowling.

There are also some species which may be killed or taken under a licence issued by Government or its agencies (SNH in Scotland, EHS in Northern Ireland etc) and information on these species also appears below.

Pest Species
‘Pest species’, those we would commonly call vermin, comprise woodpigeons, collared doves, feral pigeons and all of the crow family except ravens and choughs. Since they are protected by law, they can only be controlled under a license. Most species licenses are issued to individuals, for very specific and very limited circumstances.

Since this would not be practical for these ‘vermin’ species, the government issues, on 1st January each year, a ‘Public General License’ (PGL) for these species. The PGL species can then be killed or taken at any time of year by any authorised person, subject to certain conditions.

This is not widely understood by the general shooting population, and the licenses themselves are complicated and difficult to understand in places, so the following is a short summary, in plain english, of the main parts you need to be aware of to stay within the law.

It is only a summary, and technically, to be able to use the license, you must have read it and understood it. The full list of licenses is shown here – to read the individual licenses, click on the link.

General Licences for 2011

Licence Number	Purpose	Expiry Date

SGGL 01/2011	Licence to kill or take certain birds for the conservation of wild birds	December 31, 2011
SGGL 02/2011	Licence to kill or take certain birds for the purpose of preventing serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables and fruit	December 31, 2011
SGGL 03/2011	Licence to protect public health, public safety and prevent the spread of disease	December 31, 2011
SGGL 04/2011	Licence to protect air safety	December 31, 2011
SGGL 05/2011	Licence to keep certain wild birds for the purpose of rehabilitation	December 31, 2011
SGGL 06/2011	Licence for veterinary surgeons and practitioners to keep certain birds	December 31, 2011
SGGL 07/2011	Licence to take birds eggs for the purpose of removing unsuccessful eggs from nest boxes	December 31, 2011
SGGL 08/2011	Licence to permit the sale of certain captive-bred species of bird	December 31, 2011
SGGL 09/2011	Licence to permit the competitive showing of certain captive-bred live birds	December 31, 2011
SGGL 10/2011	Licence to allow the keeping of certain birds in show cages for training purposes	December 31, 2011
SGGL 11/2011	Licence to take eggs of the mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos) for incubation	December 31, 2011
SGGL 12/2011	Licence to permit the incubation of schedule 4 chicks	December 31, 2011
SGGL 13/2011	Licence to sell feathers and parts of certain dead wild birds	December 31, 2011
SGGL 14/2011	Licence to sell dead birds	December 31, 2011

Public General License (PGL) Species
All of the following species may be killed or taken under one of the PGL, but it is important to know which license you are using to do it. For example, it is not legal to shoot woodpigeons because you enjoy it, or to eat. However it is legal to shoot them for crop protection, and it doesn’t matter if you enjoy doing it, or what you do with the meat.

We think this is fairly stupid, of course, but it is the law, and we have to stay within the law.

So, if you are shooting pigeons, for example, and anyone asks you why you are doing it, you must say it’s for crop protection. Remember that the person asking could be a policeman, but any member of the public could be a member of the RSPB or one of the other extreme bird protection groups out to trap you into saying the wrong thing and have you charged with an offence.

It gets even more complicated with the crow family and the larger gulls, because some species appear on more than one license, so they can be killed or taken for different reasons. All very complicated, we know – if you have any doubt, phone SACS HQ and we will be happy to advise you.

There are 19 species of birds which may be killed or taken under the PGL as shown below, but only for the purposes stated in each license:

Species	Conservation of Wild Birds	Protection of Crops and Livestock	Public Health & Safety	Air Safety
Great Black-Backed Gull	Y	Y	Y
Lesser Black-Backed Gull			Y
Herring Gull			Y
Black Headed Gull				Y
Carrion Crow	Y	Y	Y
Hooded Crow	Y	Y	Y
Jackdaw	Y	Y	Y
Jay	Y
Magpie	Y	Y	Y
Rook	Y	Y	Y
Woodpigeon		Y	Y
Feral Pigeon		Y	Y
Collared Dove		Y	Y
Greylag Goose				Y
Canada goose				Y
Mallard				Y
Eurasian Curlew				Y
Eurasian Oystercatcher				Y
Northern Lapwing				Y

Note that some of these species may also be killed or taken for sporting purposes, but only during the permitted season for doing this. The PGL only applies where the birds being controlled are affecting air safety, which is of course almost entirely restricted to the immediate vicinity of airfields.

Mammals
The position on killing mammals is similar to that on killing birds. As a general rule, all mammals are protected unless killing or taking them is permitted under specific legislation.

Rats and mice may be killed at any time, using approved poisoned baits (only indoors or set in tunnels to prevent non-target species being affected.

Rats, mice, moles and some mustelids (stoats, weasels and mink) may be killed by trapping or shooting. With the exception of rats and mice, which may be killed indoors with traditional back-back traps, traps used must be of a type listed in the Spring Traps Approval Order, and set in accordance with the conditions specified in the Order.

View the relevant Order below:

Scotland - Click Here

England - Click Here

Wales - Click Here

Northern Ireland - Click Here

Note: From time to time, these orders are updated by a Variation Order, to add to or remove from the list specific traps. The most up to date position can be found here

Also note that the use of gin traps or any other form of leg hold trap is specifically illegal.

In general, commonly used traps such as fenn traps must always be set in such a way that non-target species cannot become trapped – usually in some form of natural or artificial tunnel, and the legal restrictions on using them are contained in the Orders.

Snaring
The whole subject of snaring causes more controversy and difficulties than almost any other form of pest control. There has been enormous pressure put on governments all over the UK to ban snaring as a cruel and unnecessary practice, and it has only been as a result of the constant vigilance and efforts of countryside organisations that we are still able to use this essential method of control.

This battle is likely to continue, and we recommend that all members using snared adhere to the code of practice agreed with the Scottish Government. It can be downloaded here

In Scotland, all snares must be free-running as opposed to self locking, and the Snares (Scotland) Order 2010 introduced further restrictions on the use of snares, including the compulsory use of ‘stops’ which prevent snares from closing below a certain diameter and restrictions on where they may be set.

To read the Order, click here

More recently, as part of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act, further restrictions, including the requirement for anyone setting snares to have a suitable qualification and the addition of numbered tags to all snares.

These regulations have not yet come into effect – they will be enabled after consultations with all interested parties to ensure that the practical changes needed have been made.

CLICK HERE FOR SACS NEWS
1st January 2012 - LEGAL CHANGES - SCOTLAND Fri 30/12/2011 A Commencement Order has now been made to bring into effect more sections of the Wildlife & Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 . The... The Deer (Close Seasons) (Scotland) Order 2011 Mon 19/12/2011 Further to the STOP PRESS article in the SACS December Newsletter, below is the link for the Deer (Close Seasons) (Scotland) 2011 which will come... Illegal Traps and Snares Sold on the Internet Tue 13/12/2011 Illegal Traps and Snares Sold on the Internet. It has been brought to our attention that cheap steel spring traps originating in China are... Tail Docking Survey Tue 06/12/2011 TAIL DOCKING SURVEY The University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine are conducting a study on tail injuries in working dogs...