If ever we need reminded of why we need to pursue a full ban on snaring, we need only look at the victims.
The New Year was less than two days old when Gay and Andy Christie of Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust were called out to rescue a young fox trapped, and severely injured, in a snare.
The trap was one of several set by a fence close to a housing estate in Irvine.
Gay told us: “The snare was so tight that we expected it had cut through the body wall and into the gut. The wire around the body measured 19cms - that might look quite a lot on a ruler, but try making a circle of it.
“When we arrived back at Hessilhead we examined the fox more closely, and discovered that the body wall, although damaged, was not punctured. So the fox went to the emergency vet, was cleaned up a bit, put on antibiotics and painkillers and brought back to Hessilhead.
“At present, the vet thinks the fox has a good chance of recovery, although recuperation might be lengthy.”
A snare that closed as tightly as this was almost certainly illegal – the law requires all snares to have a stop to prevent them closing to less than 23 cms.
It was highly unlikely to have been set with the landowner’s permission or to have been inspected every day, as the law requires. Gay and Andy found a decomposed fox carcase nearby, usually a sure sign that inspections are not taking place as they should.
Now, Gay and Andy are familiar with the law about snaring and they made sure the police were informed about the incident and the other illegal snares still set at the scene.
In fact, they contacted them three times but no officer was available to attend. I wonder how many lay people would have the experience and confidence to keep pressing this issue with a busy police switchboard? And how many would know for sure that the snares in question were of the illegal type?
Reporting and enforcement would be so much more effective if our law simply provided that all of these cruel, indiscriminate traps were illegal, in all circumstances.