MOST people who care about wildlife are beginning to notice how it's getting less each year.
This, I believe, is caused by the policies of Forest Enterprise. I have been told by the Coleford office that they do not know how many deer there are in the Forest, but they have a regular cull to keep the numbers down.
That takes a bit of working out. How can you cull to a given figure if you don't know how many deer there are to start with?
I have heard wild guesses of figures between 200 and 300, but nobody really knows. My opinion is that we can say goodbye to the deer.
I also believe that in the last few years there has been a campaign by Forest Enterprise to exterminate squirrels using poisoned traps. Let's forget about them being grey squirrels. If they had been red squirrels I am in no doubt they would have suffered the same fate. I don't know if anyone has heard the noise a squirrel makes when it's dying after being poisoned but it is not very pleasant I can assure you.
Another barbaric practice is to go on felling trees well into Spring and Summer when birds are nesting. That means the first clutch is lost, and also the second in some cases. It is no wonder our lovely songbirds are getting less each year.
I have two letters in my possession from Mr G. Hatfield from headquarters at Keynsham, Bristol. He has said there would be no wildlife exterminated.
Well, Mr Hatfield wants to back up his words with some proof because what he says in his letters and what is happening in the Forest of Dean does not add up.
I would like Forest Enterprise to give a statement to the local press as we would all like to know when this is going to stop.
The Forest of Dean is, in my opinion, rapidly becoming a wooded cemetery as far as wildlife is concerned and it's totally unacceptable. – J. Sterry, Churcham.