Posted on 08/01/2016 5:36:56 AM PDT by Loyalist
A Viscountess has blamed badgers for the slaughter of 200 lambs on her family’s estate, as she called for a widespread cull of the animals.
Helene, Viscountess Scarsdale, a formidable aristocrat, said the lambs had been killed in three years, while also accusing the National Trust, which now owns historic Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, of allowing the badgers to “wreak havoc”.
She said 500 acres of “beautiful” parkland at Kedleston, which has been in the family for almost 1,000 years, had been allowed to turn into “thistles and nettles” by the trust, which in turn had let badgers thrive.
The National Trust took over Kedleston about 30 years ago. Their son, the fourth Viscount Scarsdale, lives in a wing of the stately home. She said she had been horrified by what she believes is the killing of lambs owned by a tenant farmer.
Badgers, she says, have also killed hedgehogs and bees in her grounds. Farmers have been demanding a cull of badgers, blaming them for the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
Badgers are protected but pilot culls are in place in Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Lady Scarsdale, 81, told The Telegraph: “In just three or four years, 200 lambs have been killed by badgers. They leave such a mess in the fields. They shred their victims immediately. Badgers are far worse than foxes. They eat everything.
“They have these claws and teeth that lock on. All they leave behind is the spine and skull.
“We need to get rid of the badgers. I would like a machine gun. I said to friends, 'Would you visit me in prison?’ and they said, 'Well, that’s where you will be’.”
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
You could get some SERIOUS metal detecting done there! :-)
Is there everything government can’t do?
Looks like I missed all the witty badger lines.
I am a betting you have never heard of a
Jagdterrier
look them bad boys up
Yep, I have two working dachshunds and they happily go to ground (underground into dens) and kill fox, groundhog, anything they can get to.
Tke National Trust is the UK’s largest charity, with 4.5 million members. As well as owning 350 heritage sites (buildings of historic importance) such as this one, it also owns many areas of scenic importance in the mountains and coastline.
[The stately Kedleston Hall.]
I remember stately Wayne Manor.
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