Highwoods "Mass Cull"

Claims of a crow cull at Highwoods golf club have this week been strongly denied.

A member contacted the Observer to say birds were being shot by green keepers for making off with golf balls - particularly around the 8th, 9th and 10th holes.

He described what was happening as "a mass cull" and continued - "Personally I find it amazing that they do it, and a few of the members have complained.

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"I don't see they have the right...I know for a fact they have been killing them. The green keepers went out and shot a load last week. I think it is wrong."

Club Secretary Austen Moran has now hit back at these accusations.

He said: "We have been painted in a very bad light. It is not true that birds are being shot for taking balls.

"We are very concerned. We need to now defend our corner."

He said that Highwoods had a duty to protect its grounds and wildlife, and that a small amount of crows were shot to protect the songbird population on the 130 acre site.

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He claimed however this was a rare occurance, and that no more than "two or three" crows were killed every year.

"They don't just go out blazing away, like a-free-for-all...This has been totally taken out of proportion."

He also denied that the club had provided guns for green keepers to go out and shoot any crows stealing balls "in the head".

There was a policy however to keep pests and vermin at an acceptable level, including squirrels, rabbits, mice and rats as well as crows, and this was common practice at every golf course in Britain.

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Austen added that the member in question had taken various points from conversations with other players and had "cherry-picked" comments to suit his argument.

"We are disappointed that this particular member decided to go down this route, instead of coming to us and saying this. From what I have heard, he has taken it on his own back to go off and thrash it all round the newspapers. I can't understand why he would do that."

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