Nature Scotland and Lamb Killing Badgers and Foxes -Idiocy Continues

Nature Scotland/Nadar Alba has contributed more rubbish to this long standing myth. Firstly, we know that foxes visit fields with sheep in lambing season for the placenta and also the nutrient rich droppings. We know this because in the 19th and 20th centuries when we had such things as field naturalists they observed the behaviour first hand.  

There was never any talk of badgers attacking lambs and a large reward for evidence of a fox killing a lamb was set up in the 19th century and was not claimed by the early 20th century. Oddly, it was the fox hunters who showed how ridiculous the idea was and some of them also spent nights out in the field to see for themselves.

Lambs die for all sorts of reasons including bad animal husbandry.  We know eagles do take lambs. We know that no wildlife is going to turn its nose up at a free meal and badgers have been filmed with roadkill rabbits.  Sheep dogs kept to protect sheep were, in the past, also found to have gone rogue and killed sheep/lambs. These are all fact and there is a library of such material. Presumably Nature Scotland has people who prefer the warmth and comfort of working from an office?

The science here shows what has fed on carrion but not what killed the lambs in question -that would require a post mortem examination and farmers in the past have been against PM examinations which raises many questions in itself. Many organisations carrying out "research" hide the connection they(or some of those involved)  have with hunting and shooting.

Odd that this all crops up at a time when it has been stated that the dwindling fox population should be Red Listed and protected and also after 250,000 badgers have been needlessly slaughtered and are at risk of extinction. No foxes. No badgers. What next -carnivorous field mice taking down livestock and needing eradication?

The science here makes no sense in context with the claims made.  DNA work is valuable but in this case only shows what scavenged off the carcasses -I am sure magpies and crows also had a free meal.   DNA does not and cannot in any way, shape or form show how a lamb died. That is a major nonsense in this "research". 

If the lamb was checked over and moved by a farmer then human DNA should be found also., There. The farmer killed the sheep. Not how it works? Exactly. Any DNA from a sheepdog or farm dog?  Or was the test simply to find badger or fox DNA?

"most likely responsible" is a nonsense claim. The testing proves what I have stated; wildlife will scavenge from dead animals whether other wildlife or livestock.  And we have known this for centuries.

Farmers either need to spend time out in the field during lambing season to keep an eye on their livestock or get dogs in that are trained to chase off predators -foxes are 4-8kg in weight and the size of a domestic cat so are unable to carry off lambs and with a protective ewe would not try to kill a lamb.

This all sounds like using out of context science to give people a reason to call for badger and fox eradication.  You have to be pretty dim to accept what has been found for what is being claimed.

Nature Scotland seems to be run by lack lustre people.

 https://www.nature.scot/foxes-most-likely-responsible-lamb-predation

Foxes most likely responsible for lamb predation

New research investigating reports of badger predation on lambs on Scottish farms has found that foxes were responsible.

In response to growing concerns in the Scottish farming sector about the suspected role of badgers in killing and eating lambs, a study was carried out by Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) in partnership with NatureScot, National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) and Scottish Land & Estates (SLE).

As predation is rarely witnessed, 27 farms across Scotland volunteered to take part in research to gather more evidence. The farmers came forward after a call for help to members of NFUS and SLE. At all the premises, farmers suspected they had previously lost lambs to badger predation.

In spring 2022 and 2023, post-mortems were carried out on 29 carcasses from the participating farms to determine whether lambs had been killed and eaten (predated) or were fed on after death (scavenged). Predation was confirmed in 48% of lambs, 31% were scavenged after death and predation could not be ruled out for the remaining 21%.

DNA evidence from these 29 carcasses, plus 10 additional dead or injured lambs that were swabbed by farmers, was used to identify the species involved.

Fox DNA was present on 34 of the 39 lambs sampled (87%), including all the lambs that showed evidence of predation.

Meanwhile badger DNA was only detected on the partial remains of two lambs (5%), but not on any of the carcasses submitted for post-mortem, or where predation was confirmed. Dog DNA was also present on 12 (31%) lambs; however, the study suggested this was likely because of direct or indirect contact with farm dogs.

The results therefore suggest that foxes remain the most likely culprit for lamb predation where it occurs on Scottish farms and farmers facing lamb losses should examine their fox control measures.

Sheila George, Wildlife Biologist at SASA, said: “Livestock predation can be particularly distressing for farmers but identifying the predator from field signs can be challenging. Combining post-mortem and DNA evidence, we found that puncture wounds around the head, neck and throat, and associated bleeding, were a good indicator that fox predation had occurred.

“Despite the abundance of badgers on the study farms, we did not find DNA evidence that they killed lambs or regularly scavenged carcasses. The findings should help inform livestock managers and their predator control plans.”

Donald Fraser, NatureScot’s Head of Wildlife Management, said: “These findings begin to fill an important gap in our knowledge on lamb predation on Scottish farms and demonstrate the value of high-quality science and evidence in improving our understanding of interactions between wildlife and livestock.

“This research is a good example of partnership working to respond to concerns raised by the farming community. We will be working closely with NFUS and SLE to provide further advice and guidance to farmers affected by predation to help them prevent losses.”

Peter Douglas from NFU Scotland said: “Losing lambs to predators and having adequate control measures in place to deal with predation is important to Scottish sheep farmers and crofters to minimise losses.

 “We thank NatureScot and SASA for undertaking this small-scale study and for the farmers and crofters who helped out. The rising number of badgers means we need to continue to explore their impact on farming and wildlife.

 “The impact of fox predation is well known and, as we head into lambing, this study highlights the importance of identifying the cause of losses and what control options for foxes are available. We will be briefing our members on this shortly.” 

Nadia Flaherty, Policy Advisor (Wildlife Management) for Scottish Land & Estates, said: “We are enormously grateful to the farms which volunteered to take part in this important research, the findings of which clearly demonstrate the impacts of foxes, in particular, on vulnerable lambs.

“This research will usefully inform actions to mitigate against the impacts of predators in the future, and we hope further such studies will be considered to ascertain the kind of impacts badgers might be having on wildlife, including vulnerable ground-nesting birds.”  

NatureScot Research report 1345 - Investigating the role of badgers (Meles meles) in lamb predation on Scottish farms 2022-2023.