Moorland People > Moorland Gamekeeping 1 Page 2
Moorland Gamekeeper
Gamekeeping is an unusual job that frequently attracts publicity for the wrong reasons.

Many people unfamiliar with the role of a gamekeeper often associate the profession only with the persecution of raptors and other ‘vermin’ without realising the benefits that arise through the gamekeeper’s pursuit of game preservation.

In fact, many areas that are currently of high conservation interest have survived through centuries of agricultural improvement and urbanisation because they were preserved for hunting.

There is no doubt that many relict pinewoods, as well as the moorlands in the Cairngorms, owe their survival to hunting interests.

The history of gamekeeping.

The modern gamekeeper first appeared in the Scottish landscape around two centuries ago, during and following a time of great change in the Highlands – the replacement of highland cattle and people with sheep and the rise of sport-shooting (‘sporting’) estates.

 

Instead of farming, the focus of a sporting estate is on the maintenance of grouse and deer numbers for shooting and stalking.

In addition, some estates will rear pheasants and/or partridges to provide further sport for the guns and the gamekeeper is responsible for the breeding and welfare of these birds.

 "Queen Victoria and
    Prince Albert greatly       popularised sport
         shooting interests..."

The purchase of Balmoral, in 1848, by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert greatly popularised sport-shooting interests during the Victorian era.

This was probably the heyday of gamekeeping and because the ‘keepers’ uniform dates back to this time many assume that attitudes have remained unchanged too.

This is certainly not the case and while clothing appears to be changing now, a rustling breathable-plastic jacket is not going to help you stalk effectively!


The modern gamekeeper
The modern gamekeeper - a blend of the traditional tweed and the modern fleece. Image (C) Juliet Robinson.
Moorland Gardener
Although the duties of the gamekeeper are often thought to revolve around the management of animals, the moorland gamekeeper must focus a great deal of time on his heather ‘crop’ because the heather provides food and shelter for the red grouse, Scotland’s most important and celebrated game bird.

This bird provides great sport for the guns on the Glorious Twelfth (of August) when the grouse-shooting season opens!

The main management tool used to achieve a good stand of heather is burning it on a periodic basis, although it may occasionally be cut (or ‘swiped’) instead.

The ultimate aim of this management is to create a mosaic of longer, unburnt heather, and recently burnt areas of regenerating heather.

The longer heather provides cover for the red grouse and other ground-nesting birds, and the shorter, regenerating heather provides fresh leaves for the mature red grouse, deer and livestock to feed upon.

In contrast, the moorland keeper undertakes small, moderate fires.

 These produce the pleasing patchwork for which moorlands are noted and they are preferred for a number of reasons.

1.
The use of smaller burns means that a family or ‘covey’ of grouse will be able to access all the necessary habitat that they need in one small area. This increases the density of grouse on the moor.
2.
Grouse will only stray so far onto a burnt area, away from the cover of taller heather, so the central areas of a large burn may not be utilised by the grouse.
3.
More moderate fires preserve the regenerative capacity of the heather – from both shoots and seeds.

Muirburn takes place from the start of October through to mid-April in the lowlands (<450 m), or the end of the month in the uplands (>450).

     "heather provides
         food and shelter..."

Most burning takes place either at the start of this period, or especially during March and April before ground-nesting birds take up residence.

Red grouse feeding on the fresh flush of heather
Red grouse feeding on the fresh flush of heather regenerating after a moorland fire. Image (C) David Gowans.

Muirburn on Rothiemurchas estate.
Muirburn on Rothiemurchas estate.
The brooms or ‘besoms’ are used to beat out the flames and keep the fire within a limited area.

Successful muirburn is weather dependant and a very skilled job.

If the wrong weather and method is chosen the fire will either fail to catch or at worse, become an out-of-control ‘wildfire’ that may destroy many acres of moorland and threaten forestry and buildings.
Grazing Management
Despite the apparent peace and quiet on a moor there is a perennial battle between the heather and grasses in which the moorland gamekeeper and farmer intervene.

 If there is too little or no grazing, the grasses may out-grow the heather because the sheep prefer to feed upon them and limit their growth.

 However, if there is too much grazing, the sheep consume the more palatable grasses and then move onto the heather. As the heather’s main growing points are at the tips of its branches and those of the grass are at ground level, out of reach of the sheeps’ mouths, the heather becomes severely disadvantaged.

  "The movements
     of red deer can
       present problems..."

Consequently, if over-grazing continues unabated, moorland becomes green grassland as the heather dies out through the constant removal of its growing tips.

It is therefore essential that the gamekeeper manages to maintain, with the farmer, the correct number of sheep on the moor if it is to be a healthy one providing a living for both.

The sheep bring other benefits to the keeper because their dung provides a breeding ground for the insects that the young grouse feed upon.

Sheep can also be used as ‘tick mops’ to reduce the number of blood-sucking, sheep ticks on a moor because they attract the ticks.

By regularly treating the sheep with pesticides, to kill off the ticks, they can be used to literally mop up ticks from the moor and greatly reduce their numbers.

Large numbers of tick on a moor can infest young grouse and other small animals, sometimes leading to their death because of the loss of blood. Ticks can also spread diseases that affect livestock and humans, most notably Lyme disease.

The movements of red deer can present additional problems in maintaining the correct grazing regime because they are unpredictable in their location and numbers.

In winter especially, they are forced to feed upon heather in the absence of fresh grass-growth.

It is then necessary for the moorland gamekeeper to become a stalker in order to maintain the health of the vegetation.

Grazing pressure at Balnaboth Moor.
Grazing pressure at Balnaboth Moor. Some of the burns on the face of the slope have not regenerated because of the grazing pressure by sheep and deer. The sheep can easily uproot the young heather shoots so that grasses tend to dominate the vegetation. Image (C) Gail Renwick.

Red deer stags congregating
Red deer stags congregating on the lower slopes to escape the winter snows. Winter is a crucial time for on heather because it is especially sensitive to grazing at this time. Image (C) David Gowans.

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