Shooting turtle doves (2)

I must agree with David Borg Cardona's comments about the menace caused by the turtle dove as regards this bird's relatives in the UK. Here, these birds have increased by 600 per cent according to a recent survey, and I agree they are a pest. As they...

I must agree with David Borg Cardona's comments about the menace caused by the turtle dove as regards this bird's relatives in the UK. Here, these birds have increased by 600 per cent according to a recent survey, and I agree they are a pest. As they are related to pigeons, I suspect they are also a substantial source of disease.

I absolutely sympathise with the farmers whose crops can be decimated by these pests. However, the problem in Malta is with the gun-happy bird killers.

If these so-called hunters could be trusted to reduce the volumes of these pigeon type pests, that would be wonderful. Sadly, there are too many proven cases where anything that flies will be blasted from the sky.

This is such a pity as they could gain some credit, if only the rogues among their ranks could be controlled, or better still, banned from shooting at all.

class="author"Brian Simmons, Birchington, Kent, UK.

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