Eagle flying round with a trap on it's legs

[Subculture]

I posted this on chat but I think it will get lost in there.

An eagle has flown off with the gamekeepers trap on it's legs. Please sign this petition to stop this kind of thing. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/266770

twitter.com/ChrisGPackham/status/1161334050650505216?fbclid=IwAR3R_xUvqt-XZ2bn5o_TmHnu5qNO50KdbR-81i0poWajsA1BpFrjueIj3og

Signed. Thank you for the link.

Let's have a bit of truth here - the petition is to ban grouse shooting.

People on the twitter feed disagree with what is shown and suspect what it really shows is something in the trap (like a rat) which the eagle has grabbed because it didn't have to chase it. The trap will probably be discarded once the treat is eaten. This could just be the eagle equivalent of a Kinder Egg.

If a trap is legally set it would be covered and access to it would be restricted to a hole the size of the intended prey.

That trap was set for a bird of prey and if it hadn't broken free we wouldn't have known it had happened.

The grouse shooting industry is full of criminals who are slaughtering our wildlife. They aren't interested in obeying the law as they believe they have impunity in the wide spaces. Banning grouse shooting is the only way to put a stop to things like this.

Banning grouse shooting will put country people out of work and reduce money in the rural economy. Most gamekeepers working grouse moors love wildlife - banning grouse shooting means less gamekeepers on the lookout for poachers.

@cdt
I think you have a rose tinted view of country life, gamekeepers are paid to do as they’re told, they have no qualms killing wildlife; birds, foxes, badgers, deer etc
Most of the grouse shot are discarded so purely for bloody thirsty arseholes that want to shoot and kill, there is no need for paid to kill hunting/shooting.

I’m not sure what banning grouse shooting has to do with an illegal trap that would be set anyway even if grouse shooting was illegal? (Cos, y’know, whoever set the trap already did it illegally and has proven they don’t care about the law...)

@dyrne
The area is a grouse moor and 2 other tagged eagles have gone missing and you know gamekeepers do set traps- illegally

But they’re still going to do it if grouse shooting is illegal? Just like people still go hare coursing and badger baiting etc etc. Like I fully get why people are against grouse shooting; but implying that setting open traps is currently legal and will magically stop is completely misleading.

Hare coursing and badger baiting are illegal and disgusting but they aren't arranged, paid for events using guns that would draw attention to what is happening. Banning grouse shooting and ensuring prosecution of anyone involved should it happen would pretty much stop grouse shooting and with it the reason for killing the raptors, corvids, foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, hares, mustelids, snakes, amphibians etc