I, FOR ONE, did not join M Embling of Crook (HAS, May 22) on the day of action on May 25 against grouse shooting on the Yorkshire Moors.
The day was particularly to urge Yorkshire Water to end grouse shooting leases.
Unfortunately, the end of grouse shooting puts an end to wildlife management by gamekeepers who minimise predation of all ground nesting birds. No one else will fill this gap and so the species, which share happily the moors with the grouse like lapwings, curlews, oyster catchers and even hen harriers, would continue to decline.
An experiment in the Scottish borders showed that with the total removal of management by gamekeepers, predators flourished briefly until they had eaten every ground nesting bird to leave a moor devoid of life.
And more important to me, I would be without a tasty grouse for my dinner. Why should grouse not be included in our diets along with our favourite meat of chicken – we eat three million or so chickens each day.
If you really want to annoy Yorkshire Water, stop drinking their water.
John Harker, Castleside, Consett
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