Bird scarers / gas guns

I would always suggest initially contacting the farmer directly and advising him of the dangers of the bird scarer. However if they fail to co-operate then there is no other choice but to take the matter further.

Clearly the further a bird scarer is away from a bridleway then the less the noise level when they explode especially if they are pointed away from the bridleway.

Again the NFU leaflet makes it quite clear that they should be pointed away from bridleways and straw bales should be used to baffle the sound from going to the rear or sides.
 
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Charlie you tend to forget that the Bridleways/Public Right of Way where there before the farmer bought the land.

The public have a right to use public rights of way and the landowners and farmers have a duty of care when using these exploding devices. They have the potential of causing a serious accident not only to the horse rider but in the event of the horse bolting in to other members of the public or on to a public highway.

As members of the public we have every right to protect our safe use of bridleways and not be intimedated by landowners and farmers who put their interests before that of the safety of members of the public that are legitamately using a public right of way.

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Utter bull. Hack somewhere that isn't infested with craw scarers- surely you would be an idiot to walk on a bridleway knowing they were there and your horses didn't like them.
Farmers have a livelyhood to upkeep, horses are a liability anyway. (and I am a horseowner, before I get shot down.)

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What a load of cak!

What if your only way out of your stables was a bridleway with a main road on the end and bird scarers along it? Leave your horse and never ride it?

You sound just like the moron car drivers who say horses shouldn't be on roads and we should ride in fields!

All PeterNatt is saying is there should be a compromise here.

We as riders, and walkers, have a right to use bridleways and roads safely, all people are saying - is site the bird scarers properly and safely.

Surely not much to ask?

As it happens my horse isn't that worried about them, but some are, and if a badly sited one caused a horse to bolt into traffic and killed someone, when it was placed somewhere dangerous and against regulations and guidelines, the farmer is liable and its avoidable.

You'd think they could therefore employ sense and due care.

We SHARE the countryside. Everyone has rights - its compromise thats needed - not saying we can't ride where we have to, or that farmers should suffer.

Where I used to keep the horse - the one with only one way out and therefore had to go past it - I thought it was very selfish of the farmer. It was miles away from HIS farmhouse, but only metres away from the farm where we kept the horses, practically under the bedroom window, and it went off from some ungodly hour til late. Nice way to treat the neighbours, could have been at the other side away from their house instead of right under it. It was horribly loud! (And didn't work, they did a shoot in the end, shot about 100 pigeons and next day there was about 300 more having a sit in on the field!)

Why can't people be reasonable and work together?

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Crow scarers are loud wherever you put them. We have one about three fields away from the pony paddock and it makes me jump every time. Granted, stood next to it it would be louder, but it's almost as loud wherever they're put.

My point was towards those who feel that their hobby is more important than a farmers livlihood.

Peternatt: horses may have been around longer than cars, but that's because horses were used for transport purposes back then. how many of us ride horses to work?? Exactly. Horses are a pleasure, a hobby. TBH I get embarrassed by this notion that simply because horses have a right of way that we, a riders are more important than others. It's simply not true.

If we, as riders, rely on farmers to open up new bridleways then we shouldnt be whingeing about them all the time.

"oh, we'd like to ride on your land, but you have to pass it by us before you use crow scarers".

I have never in my life come across a crow scarer placed next to a road, ie right in the hedge, but can see why it might be done. At this time of year perhaps it's easier for the farmer to adjust and control the scarer if it;s near his main point of access to that field rather than having to cut up his headlands driving round in a tractor in the mud.
 
Charlie: Firstly you are incorect if you believe horse riders rely on farmers and land owners to open new bridleways. The vast majority of new bridleways are created by people who use historic research and user evidence to create new bridleways and public rights of way and have them paced on the definitive map so that they can b used by future generations of horse riders.

The truth of the matter is that in 1949 when all public rights of ways had to be recorded and placed on the definitive map of each Parish that many farmers stated that those of bridleway/byway status on their land where public footpaths so that horse riders could no longer use them.

Placing a bird scarer next to or close to a public right of way is dangerous which is made quite clear in the NFU Code of Conduct for Bird Scarers. There is a Health and Safety issue and as we all know farms are the most dangerous place of work as indicated by the high proportion of accidents on them.

Not all landonwers and farmers are irresponsible but I am afraid that some are and putting someones life at risk should be avoided at all costs.
 
Actually Peter, I wouldn't say she was incorrect as such, Our local farmer has opened up a fantastic bridleway for us, he has acres and acres of fields which he opened up and maintains for all of us to ride on and as far as I'm aware is now registered as a bridleway.

Your right with respect to historic research etc being the cause of new bridleways opening ect. But it's unfair to say someone is wrong when in all fairness alot of farmers have and will open up their land for people to ride.

Although the other side of the coin is the fact that alot of farmers do hate horse riders and the damage they cause when being irresponsible!
 
Loopyloop I am afraid it is only a very very small minority of farmers and landowners that open up tracks for use by horse riders and carriage drivers. Normally only because they get an additional grant for doing it on top of their basic Single Area Payment.

You can easily check if they are now public bridleways by checking with the definitive map officer at your local County Council who will be able to advise you of the status of these tracks. The County Council is also obliged to mark them with signs to indicate they are a public bridleway.
 
haha yeah ok, you rumbled me, I accidently forgot to mention he was issued a grant.........
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Selective typing and all that............
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Well at least you are honest and I bet you that he has not dedicated the route so that they are of Public Right of Way - Bridleway status! In other words as soon as the grant for his higher status single area payment stops so do the tracks! This is why it is so important to have them recorded as Public rights of Way so that they can not be taken away.

it takes many years of very hard work to have new bridleways created so as to give riders off road routes and this is why I find the positioning of bird scarers adjacent or close to them as very bad form.

Bridleways are a very valuable resource to horse riders and should be treated as such.

The fact is that bird scarers can cause very serious accidents and I fail to undertsand that knowing this why some farmers/landowners place them close to or adjacent to public rights of way.

Do they seriously want to end up being responsible for seriously injuring or killing a horse or rider?

Then they also have the heartache and expense of having to defend their actions in court and then possibly have having to pay out compensation.

Bird scarers should be used sensible and well away from Public Rights of Ways, Public highways and routes used by horse and carriage drivers.
 
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What has astounded me is the sheer amount of riders who assume they have this God given right to go where they like, when they like...

How many riders see a stubble field and go full pelt over it just because it looks like fun? How would those riders feel if that was THEIR land? Its someone elses property FFS! You ask permission, and most farmers would smile and say "go ahead" surely it's just plain good manners to ask?

Farmers don't own land for the fun of it, or set up bird scarers because they look pretty.

Most of us rely on famers for our livery, hay, straw, and feed. So why the hell go to enviromental health and stop them using scarers to protects their crops?? It's ridiculous and petty.

We use bridleways with respect to the land owner, if we carry on whingeing soon we will have no bridleways left, let alone get the opportunity to open more!

If you don't like where you ride then don't ride there, simple. We have a bridleway, which, for part of the year is unsafe to use. So we don't use it for that part of the year, we ride elsewhere. If we didnt have elsewhere to ride then we would move the pony. Simple.

But i appreciate having the coutryside to use, therefore respect other countryside users and wouldnt dream of assuming that my needs come before theirs. In fact, my needs come pretty much below theirs... mine's a hobby, theirs is their living.

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Agree, we are on a farm, and TBH the horses just ignore them, like they does the guns in the shooting seasons and the big tractors & trailers at harvesting time.
 
I was going to post about these the other day. Our horses are used to them, indeed, out hunting a few weeks ago we were in a field with one and the horses just jumped, but didn't do anything.

However, whilst hacking the other day, on the road, we were going past a gateway and the gas gun went off - cue 3 horses and riders utterly terrified for a moment! The gun was no more than 4 foot from us and if I had been driving past with the window open I would have thought I had a major problem.

Now, we knew that the farmer had a gas gun, and we have no probs with it at all, but the situation had changed unbeknownst to us and was, IMO, very dangerous. We were talking about it, and maybe a flag on the top would be a mutually acceptable way of exposing the situation so one can be careful. QUite frankly, if we had had the 4 year old with us, there would have quite possibly have been a nasty accident as the road is busy and fast.
 
Weezy. What you have highlighted is yet another Landowner/Farmer who has ignored the advice given to them by the NFU who state that bird scarers should not be placed close to bridleways, public highways or routes used by horse riders and that warning signs should be placed along routes running adjacent to them to warn of their presence.
 
Bird scarers are designed to emit a very large sound to scare birds (of course they also scare other animals).

Interestingly enough even on the manufacturers instructions on setting them up they advise those deploying and testing them to wear industrial grade ear protectors and to get as far away as possible from them once they have pressed the test buttom (30 second delay +) when testing them so that they don't expose themselves to the high level of noise and cause permanent damage to their ears.

So if a bird scarer is placed next to a bridleway it means that those using the bridleway can be exposed to this high level of explosive noise. It is therefore only common sense not to place these devices close to a bridleway so as to prevent damage to people and aniamals hearing.
 
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