Troublesome geese evading shooters, say crofters
At a glance
Crofters in the west of Scotland have raised concerns about geese numbers with MSPs.
Resident greylag geese have been blamed for damaging grazing land.
The Scottish Crofting Federation said small-scale shoots have not been effective.
A further frustration has been geese recognising shooters' cars and flying off.
- Published
MSPs have been told of crofters' frustration with geese damaging pasture on Scotland's west coast.
In February, the Scottish government agreed to renew funding measures to control numbers of resident greylag geese on some islands.
But the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) told Holyrood's rural affair committee that the small-scale shoots were not effective.
SCF chief executive Patrick Krause said a further frustration was that the geese could recognise the shooters' cars and would fly off.
He said geese were difficult to shoot and skilled marksmen and women had to be brought in to do the work.
Mr Krause told MSPs: "They have all said over the years it is more and more difficult because geese are quite clever to the point of literally recognising the marksman's car and moving on as he or she comes over the hill."
The geese are blamed for damaging coastal meadows, called machair, by eating, trampling and fouling on the grass.
Mr Krause said some crofters believed it was no longer worthwhile being involved in agriculture because of the scale of the problem.
- Published16 February 2022
