A wetlands walk

World Wetland Day is on Feb 3 this year and Cabragh Wetlands is celebrating it with a walk and talk on Sunday February 3 at 2:30 in conjunction with the Local Authorities Programme. This event is free and all are welcome. It should be very enjoyable if you dress appropriately.

From the myths and legends of Irish folklore, we know that our ancestors saw birds as symbols of immortality, purity and strength. It was believed that the souls of the dead were carried in the bodies of swans which gave them some protection from hunting and persecution.

The great swan story is that of the Children of Lir. Famed for their singing, the king ordered them to be captured but a multicoloured mist descended and when it had risen the swans had returned to human form. They were immediately christened by St. Mochaomhóg of Two–Mile –Borris. The artist, Oisín Kelly, saw them as a potent symbol of an emerging independent Ireland in his charismatic sculpture in the Garden of Remembrance. Swans also feature in the Celtic Revival church that is the Honan Chapel of 1916 in Cork.

Man’s history of fowling has meant the almost total decimation of species particularly wildfowl of the wetlands. Hunting birds with guns began in the 15th century but because the flintlocks of the 16th century were expensive, hunting with guns was rare and restricted to the nobility.

The industrial revolution changed everything. For instance, between October 1880 and February 1881, one wildfowl dealer in Tralee bought 16,481 wildfowl including 9,264 snipe and 1861 wigeon.

Wigeon were often killed with a punt gun that could kill eighty or one hundred birds with one shot and the large number of wildfowl were exported to Britain.

Today, of course, the same opportunities are not there as the amount of suitable freshwater habitat has shrunk dramatically and continues to do so.

It is also important to say that in present times wildfowl hunters and gun clubs are the most aware and responsible of naturalists and that they value sustainability highly. Indeed, Cabragh Wetlands Trust owes its very existence to the vision of such people.

An interesting development in the 17th century was the duck decoy, a type of man-made trap for ducks. One of the last operational ones was at Kilcooley.

A man made pond of about a hectare was constructed with channels radiating from it which tapered to a catching area.
Large hoops were placed over each channel tapering to less than 1m wide. Wetland plants such as willow were trained over the hoops to form a pipe and make the netting invisible to ducks. They were also curved so that the ducks could not see the end of the pipe until it was too late. It took a year to settle and there were always three pipes to cater for different wind direction.

A decoy man would control grey heron and pike, lethal dangers to ducklings. A flock of tame ducks were put on the pond to attract wild ducks and they were trained by the throwing of food to swim up along the pipe followed by the wild duck. A special breed of small dog, called a piper, was also often used to lead the ducks, the wild ducks thinking it was a fox and attempting to mob it as it ducked in and out of the screens. Once the ducks got to the end of the decoy, their only way out was through a narrow opening at the end where they were caught in a net or box.

It was the Dutch who pioneered this method and in one area of the Netherlands more than 25,000 ducks were caught in 1841 and more than 650,000 between 1809 and 1909. The original great estates in Ireland like Kilruddery were Dutch owned after the Williamite wars but landscaping and the increasing cost of maintainence meant that they eventually faded away. The last one was in Cork in the 1920’s. It would be interesting to hear if anyone has any experience of the operation at Kilcooley.
An impressive testament to creativity and innovation, all for the purpose of killing birds! As we shall see in the weeks ahead, a lot more of the same will be needed if we are to save our present freshwater resources. Cabragh Wetlands is in the forefront of that effort.

Don’t forget our traditional night for making St. Bridget’s Crosses-Friday, Feb 1 at 8 p.m.-another part of who we are. Beidh fáilte romhat.

Slán go fóill.