What you see this photograph is the normal behaviour of some Cumbrian farmer or gamekeeper and it shows 40 moles that have been killed by this person strung up on a wire fence for all to see. To many people it is highly objectionable indeed barbaric. Two countryside people it is perfectly normal and acceptable and the right thing to do. The reason why the moles are strung up like that is because it is tradition. The tradition is that the person who killed the moles gets paid and he does this as evidence of the number of moles that he has killed. That is my understanding of the practice.
There is a massive chasm between the mentality of countryside folk in the UK and townies. Countryside people think that townies don’t understand them and townies think the countryside people are ignorant fools and cruel to animals. Of course, I’m generalising. But some countryside people such as gamekeepers are very cruel sometimes and they don’t seem to have any sensitivity towards wildlife conservation. They might say that their work aids wildlife conservation and they produce a mangled argument which justifies the killing of animals to the betterment of conservation. It’s all doubletalk and a torturous way to try and justify killing.
My personal belief is that people who do this kind of thing are almost psychopathic. Perhaps I’m being too kind. That’s they are fully psychopathic but they have no sensitivity towards wildlife and the sentience of animals. And therefore, I am one of those people who regard farmers and gamekeepers who think this behaviour is normal as backward and ignorant.
One person commented on this picture said that the moles were killed in the Lake District which is a world Heritage site which receives taxpayers’ funding. Therefore, taxes are helping to fund indiscriminate and inhumane killing of wildlife.
A farmer would say that killing moles is a targeted practice which helps protect the quality of grassland.
A woman who lives in Cumbria, Sarah, said that she hates to see this sort of photograph. She takes a spade and wheelbarrow and collect the soil for her raised beds. Although moles can be annoying in that they spoil a lawn you never kill them she said. She regards the practice as barbaric.
Another woman, Tina, said that these moles would have had a slow painful death in horrific traps before the mole catcher came along and strung them up on the fence.
Another person questioned why people don’t object to rats being killed but object to moles being killed. They are referring to speciesism. People often engage in speciesism. It’s a good point. The problem is though these moles were killed brutally and to string them up like this is like showing off. It does betray an ignorance.
One farmer said that if you don’t like country ways don’t go to the country. I called that man ignorant and I told him. But you don’t have to be ignorant if you live in the country.
Another commenter said that “If you have seen sheep or cattle die from listeria as a result of soil in silage you may have a different view?”
Another person said that mammals are protected in the UK under the Wild Mammal Act 1996 and therefore the person who did this should be reported to the police. I suspect that there is an exemption within that act which allows farmers and gamekeepers to do this sort of thing.
