The plight of farmers when it comes to raven attacks is once again clear as the lambing season has come to an end.

With raven numbers increasing, the birds continue to attack lambs – both helpless newborns and older, stronger lambs.

Mike Nairn of Balnabroich Farm in Strathardle saw his lamb flock decimated by ravens this year.

He told The Scottish Farmer: "In 20 days of lambing from April 1, we lost 209 lambs, of which 198 healthy lambs were victims of raven attack.

"Three lambing ewes, two mules and one LLeyn were also attacked by murderous mob of 84 ravens as counted, and these animals had to be destroyed.

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"Our distraught shepherd, Finn Yorston and his assistant Robbie were present in the lambing fields just before first light each day and on hourly patrol through to 10.00pm in the evenings. These clever birds miss few opportunities and the scenes have been truly horrific including a raven sitting on the back of a lambing ewe while ripping open her belly."

Mike continued: "In another case a healthy two-week-old lamb was taken during a ten minute interval while the shepherd had his back turned while lambing a ewe in the same field. On the worst day, 30 lambs were lost to ravens. The deterrent effects of scarecrows, vehicles and quads left in the fields has seemed ineffective.

"NatureScot responded quickly and helpfully, granting us a license to shoot four ravens, later increased to nine, but against such a large predatory group, this has had little effect as these brutal attacks have continued.

"We have observed a significant increase in the raven population at Balnabroich Farm in recent years. Ravens have displaced a peregrine falcon which habitually nested in rocks on our high ground and now they seriously threaten the viability of an upland sheep farming enterprise as well as causing multiple distressing instances of cruelty to the sheep flock."

It is thought that there are about 2500-6000 breeding pairs of raven in Scotland, with about 12,000 breeding pairs in Britain, with densities thought to be locally high in some areas.

Most ravens breed in the west, including mainland Argyll, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Lochaber and western Caithness and Sutherland, as well as the Northern Isles.

A NatureScot spokeswoman said: “We recognise the damage that ravens can cause to livestock and the impact this has on farmers. We issue licences to control ravens to those who are suffering or likely to suffer serious damage to their livestock where there is no other satisfactory solution. These licences permit the shooting of some of the birds that are causing the damage, with the aim of removing problem birds and deterring other ravens.

“In this case we issued a licence to the farm swiftly after they contacted us about the damage to their livestock from ravens. Should there be a need to increase the number of birds licensed we would encourage them to contact our licencing team to make that request.”

Information on the NatureScot website explains: "Ravens do kill lambs, and there are well-documented reports across the world, for most species of raven. There is very good evidence to suggest that attacks on lambs are something that has been going on for many years in areas where ravens have been, and still are, common.

"Ravens, like all crows, are highly opportunistic, and exploit a wide-range of food sources depending on what is available and when it is available. In addition they are regarded as

being among the most ‘intelligent’ of all birds, and are quick to learn about (and exploit) new food sources. Their habit of feeding in large flocks also means that they can easily tackle potential prey much larger than they are."