Grouse Technical Services

Grouse Technical Services (GTS) is the Trust’s new cost efficient advisory service to help moorland managers optimize grouse productivity.  We will work with your keepering team and existing advisors to identify ways of making your existing management effort more effective.

GTS advisors can help in the restoration of a moor for walked up or driven days, audit current management priorities against stated objectives and assist with the ongoing monitoring of disease presence and population densities on  your moor.

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 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 and the Animal Welfare Act (2006) has thrown up new questions. To address this, our one day 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. The three modules are:

• Fox control
• Corvid control
• Mustelid and Rodent Control.

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.  The cost is £50 inc VAT per person.

Whilst we will organize courses across the north on each topic, if you would like a private course then please contact the office. 

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.

Check out the courses in your area or ring the GTS office on 01325 717930. 

How GTS will benefit you

GTS will:

• 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 Craig Jones on 07825 228735 or Henrietta Appleton on 07889 891956.