*** Croome and West Warwickshire cancel Christmas town centre meets due to Covid * Cotswold hunt sabbed and sabs attacked as blocked setts found ***
A quick round up of the last 2 days:
The Croome and West Warwickshire were at Spitten Farm on 21st December and hunting around the Lenches, a sab was keeping an eye on them for a while and checked some nearby setts, none were tampered with and were active. Sadly, we expect this to become a new cull zone next year which should be the last year of new licences. This hunt were due to meet at Upton on Christmas Eve, Pershore on Boxing Day and Alcester New Year’s day, all big meets with big crowds. They have decided to cancel these meets due to the rise of Omicron and have been responsible in that regard, we hope that other hunts follow their example. They may well meet nearby in each area and hunt though, so please keep alert if you live in those areas. last year they met near Broughton on Boxing Day.
Yesterday, 22nd December, we met up with Mendip Hunt Sabs Bristol Hunt Saboteurs and Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch to sab the Cotswold Hunt in Laurie Lee country Jones Slad farm. The hunt did very little until 15.00 either huntsman Guy Fitzearle drawing blank or seeing sabs well positioned and then going elsewhere, as the field stood around chatting…..lots!
This all changed when they drew some unnamed coverts just north of Giants Stone. Sabs stopped hounds on one fox but they picked up again and some of the field tried to grab cameras. Another sab was pushed away from one covert by 2 mounted followers who claimed to be the landowners, one tried riding into sabs and another grabbed a sab’s wrist turning the camera off. The reason for them being so annoyed might have been the fact that a few meters away there was a badger sett which had been freshly blocked.
At first the sett was though to be dead and blocked so many times that the badgers had died or moved away, however a clod of earth showed fresh roots and other clods were found down 2 sett entrances. Funnily enough the riders had referred to sett blocking as part of the badger cull even though sett blocking is not part of the licence to cull and without a licence it remains an offence (imprisonable for up to 6 months) to interfere with a badger sett without a licence. Also the culling period for this area, Gloucestershire 29, is over. The licence has expired for this year. They need to work better on their excuses!
