I walk about a thousand miles annually around this district and witnessed rat populations increase by at least threefold in 2020, grey squirrels - more or less the same - whilst magpies have doubled or worse.
On a walk in local countryside, magpies are now the most common bird - and by some margin. These act as a curse on the nests of songbirds where they plunder both eggs and nestlings alike.
We are now at the point where, if there is no major cull - and very soon - scores of species of songbirds will be obliterated for ever in this area. I cannot speak for elsewhere, of course.
On my morning walks, where there used to be songs from a goodly handful of birds in every tree and bush, I can now walk past eight or ten trees before I hear a single bird calling to its mate.
Manage wildlife properly - or lose almost all of it!
