Reasons to be fearful (part one)

Robin Scott implores us not to be damned by statistics and the ‘truth’ they tell

- Robin Scott

A clatter at the front porch made me start and set the dogs off. The Lab, Sam, calmed down quickly but that bloody teckel, Doogie, was still kicking off long after I’d gone outside to discover the cause of the commotion, a male sparrowhawk.

The unfortunate bird had crashed into one of the triple-glazed panes at break-neck speed in pursuit of a snack. As it happens, this is the second time in as many months I’ve got this close to one of these dainty birds of prey. The other met the same fate, too.

Thoughts

They’re bonny looking things with exquisitely coloured plumage and yellow talons. And they are amazing hunters to boot.

I certainly wouldn’t raise a hand in anger against one but that’s as far as my admiration goes, for them or any other hawk. I would much prefer they knocked a sizeable hole in the corvid population instead of gorging themselves on so many of our precious songbirds. But they don’t. Presumably hedgerow tweety pie is tastier than crow, and easier to catch. It certainly appears so.

Anyway, the death of that second hawk got me thinking: how many hundreds (if not thousands) are killed this way across Britain and Europe every year? Surely the statisticians out there can come up with a figure and suggest ways of reducing this shocking mortality rate, either by removing windowpanes from houses, or blocking them off with sacking or plywood sheeting.

The boffins are able to do it for everything else and come up with a cure, even if it is only a sticking plaster. Take lead shot poisoning. It’s the perfect example. Most recently the European Chemicals Agency (ECA) was asked by the European Commission to put together draft regulations further restricting the use of lead shot in cartridges and bullets. Some say a blanket ban is on its way.