Grouse Technical Services

Monitoring Services

We offer basic disease and population monitoring services to assist with ongoing management ambitions.  We can:

• Do your worm counts
• Undertake Spring and Summer grouse counts
• Identify the presence of louping ill by blood testing grouse, hares and sheep
• Analyse worm presence where densities are too low to shoot using caecal pat sampling techniques.

GTS Costs (all fees quoted exclude VAT)

• Grouse counts -  £375 per count
• Worm counts – (postal service) £300 for 20 old; or £20 per bird for smaller samples
• Caecal pat counts – (postal service)  £300/£20 as above
• Red grouse blood sampling for LIV (lab work)- £12.50 per sample if collected by GTS; £20 per sample if supplied by estate

GTS packages

We can help advise on the restoration of a moor or audit existing management strategies.  Following an initial assessment visit we will create a range of customized packages to address your objectives.  

The individual package elements include:

• Population/Harvesting analysis
• Grouse health (Strongyle worm and sheep tick and louping ill)
• Predator analysis (effort and techniques employed)
• Habitat management
• Wildlife/biodiversity
• Statutory Body support
• Training

Predator Control Courses

The past few years have seen ever increasing complexity in the licensing and legal regulations governing predator control techniques. To address this, our best practice courses seek to ensure that predator control is carried out according to all the relevant legal requirements and best practice codes, in a way that minimises attempted prosecution and, should it occur, provide the best defence in court.

Each course covers the legal aspects, the methods employed including equipment required and best practice, practical hints and tips and an outdoor demonstration. At the end there is a short test which if passed will result in a Certificate of Attendance. For more information please see our tailored courses.

In Scotland, training in the use of snares became obligatory in 2010. The Trust, in partnership with SGA and BASC, can provide accredited fox and rabbit snare training. For more information please contact our Scottish Headquarters at scottishhq@gwct.org.uk or call 01738 551511.

How GTS will benefit you:

• Provide effective and cost efficient advise
• Ensure you undertake the right management action at the right time
• Make recommendations to improve the productivity of your moor
• Provide an agreed ongoing monitoring programme
• Advise on improving grouse health
• Advise on ways of optimising your heather cover and minimising the impacts of key predators
• Provide (in combination with our research team) scientific evidence to help negotiations with statutory bodies
• Survey and review wildlife data for your moor for negotiations with statutory bodies.
• Provide accredited training courses
• Provide written reports with raw data, maps and an accompanying analysis
• Make available a dedicated GTS advisor with whom you can discuss issues
• Complement the inputs from your other estate advisors.

For more information please complete our enquiry form or call the GTS office on 01325 717930.