Irish Extra November 2021
I almost had to look twice at the month as I began this piece, November! Its almost hard to believe, on more column and I will take my pile of countryman’s weekly’s for the year, wrap a band round them and place them in the loft to look back on when I am old and stiff. I just need the old part now because I have been as stiff as a board the last few days and been totally bed ridden with a dose of something akin to flu – It definitely wasn’t the “virus” as I had two tests and both were negative. People often take sickness as a negative, but myself I take it as a chance to relax, think things over and plan ahead, every cloud has a silver lining, as things have been so busy lately, I barely had time to sleep so a day or so in bed did no harm at all!
On Wednesday 13th October, I attended a meeting entitled “The Future of Country Sports” put together by the Countryside Alliance with guest speakers from the hunting community as well as the Countryside Alliances Tim Bonner & also Jim Barrington (Government animal welfare advisor). Jim Shannon MP was in attendance and spoke strongly and passionately on his support for country sports. We also had representatives in attendance from the Irish Working Terrier Federation, some who drove over 8hrs to attend showing their dedication as well as the various Hound Associations & packs from North and South of the border. The point of the meeting was to discuss and give opinion on the proposed members bill to ban hunting by Mr John Blair of the Northern Ireland Alliance Party. I was particularly impressed by Mr Barrington, who spoke and screened a presentation which highlighted the importance and requirement for hunting and countryside management, and I would defy anyone to read it entirely and not agree that hunting and countryside management as a requirement cannot be ignored. I have written previously that Mr Blair has no idea about the countryside and I don’t say that because he pushing forward a bill against hunting, I say it because it is true – Should someone come forward with a genuine understanding and an alternative to what Mr Blair wants to remove, the case could be listened to, the discussions could be had and a compromise met – But to offer scent repellents, diversional feeding and fencing off the countryside only shows one thing, and that is complete ignorance and a lack of understanding. Mr Blair corresponded with me over a period of months and always returned a few days later with an answer for questions or arguments I put to him – I begin to realise very quickly from this and the answers, they weren’t his responses at all. Take terrier work in example – A method of Apex predator control, legal on the mainland UK and across most of Europe – Scientifically proven to be the most humane method of control and carried out by hundreds of registered clubs by members working under a strict code of conduct throughout Ireland, and if you look at it ethically, morally, scientifically or objectively it is among the best methods of a predator that needs controlled. The removal for legal terrier work would be a disaster for animal for animal welfare coupled a reduction in fox population & with a potential season imposed on the shooting of foxes is only one point in many hundreds why a move against hunting is nothing but detrimental to animal welfare and if Mr Blair understood the countryside, he would understand this.
I shot a few ducks during October, I don’t shoot many, a brace here & there is all I need and October provided just that. I stopped at a spot near home on the way back from a rabbit job one evening and managed a mallard and a gadwall and a few evenings later bagged a couple Of Teal. One thing I have noticed in my home area this year is an increase in Pigeons. That may sound unusual but this is not a place we usually see very many. The mainstay is sheep & cattle farming, with crops being almost non-existent, but being coastal on the occasion that there is the odd field of Barley or Wheat which on occasion does happen, it seems to draw ducks for miles after its cut. Its really only the last few weeks I noticed the Pigeon increase and more notably behind my house, a small square field surrounded by Hawthorn seemed to getting Criss crossed with Pigeons at times nonstop. I took my Teckel Remy for a walk one evening and as I always do with him, I took a shotgun as he has started to find foxes and his voice, and only a couple of weeks back he had a great hunt on a fox which he eventually lost near a road. As we were walking two pigeons broke across the field and I knew I hit both. One dropped dead and the other flew on but I knew he was a goner. On the way home we came back that way and I was very pleased when Remy returned with the missing Pigeon gripped firmly in his jaws. After breasting them I noticed the crops on both were absolutely packed full of Hawthorn berries, something I have never came across with Pigeons before, but maybe others have. I usually have a day or two in the high ground for snipe with a Teckel or two, however this year the weather is still too warm – As I write now its 17c and no weather for walking through heather all day shooting, especially when it’s wet as it makes the warm air even more clingy. I have mentioned the unusually mild weather before and I kept thinking it would break but aside from the occasional cold day it still feels like summer.
With plenty going on I now have more to do! My Teckel bitch “Cider” who I brought from Germany in 2018 was sired by Sig Sauer Vom Bismarck Eiche (Milo) and her dam was a bitch called Eyka (Eye-ka) Cider recently gave birth to three puppies, one of which we decided to keep and have named her “Eyka” after her gradmother. She is the smallest in the litter but certainly has the largest character and has kept us entertained with her lively attitude over the last few weeks. I now have to begin training her which will be a task itself but is very essential were Teckels are concerned. There are on occasion people who contact me asking where to get a Teckel puppy and I advise them as best I can, and I always tell them, whatever you do – Train it! An untrained dog is a nuisance, but an untrained Teckel is a nightmare. Teckel training really is a pretty straight forward and for the most part you only want basic obedience, retrieving etc which takes really 15 0r 20 minutes daily for a couple of weeks, you can & if you have time should progress beyond this and that time spent now will save you years of heartache. Until I began travelling to Germany more often and learning how to properly train Teckels I was of the opinion it could not be done properly – But there I saw some things that really amazed me and made me raise my own standards and learn as much as I could, puppy training really is, time well spent.
Until Next time – Good Hunting.