My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her reply, which was not unexpected. Is she aware that the owls would not be expected to discriminate between grey and red squirrels because where there are greys there are no longer any reds. It would not matter if the owl were colour blind. My Lords, I had not thought of the eagle owl in question as an asylum seeker. Certainly, we should take no lessons from the party opposite on the treatment of asylum seekers.
Birds of prey can be and have been used for scaring pigeons in some urban areas.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 does not prohibit such action. But the birds of prey in question sometimes do not limit themselves to scaring. They have been known to consume some of the vermin concerned. Nor are they good at discriminating between either red and grey squirrels or domestic pets. So there are some dangers in taking that course of action.