No joy with larsen trap

Dupont · 06-03-2011 11:07AM #1

i have a larsen trap out for about 3 weeks now and the magpies wouldnt even look at it.went out to the van yesterday and disturbed a magpie(typical:rolleyes:) went down to look and he had a hole pecked in egg on top of trap.checked before dark last night and he dad not went back but i was cutting hedges their till dark.checked this morning and egg on top was all eaten and the door had been triggered and the nest inside was disturbed but the eggs intact and worse still no magpie:mad: there is a small gap around the door ,what size of a hole would a magpie get through?? and is he once bitten twice shy??

flanum · 06-03-2011 06:35PM

do you have decoy bird in there?

Dupont · 06-03-2011 07:38PM

flanum wrote: »

do you have decoy bird in there?

nope baited with eggs to catch one (hopefully):o

blackstairsboy · 06-03-2011 08:12PM

You would be best advised to get a decoy bird. Preferable one which was caught a mile or 2 away. Reason being magpies are very territorial and will not tolerate an outsider in their territory. Even if you do catch one he might not make the best decoy. Surely there is someone in your area with a trap going that you can get a bird from and then if he needs one you can give him one back when you catch.
Maybe it is an old wives tale but it is what we always do and it works for us.;)

johngalway · 06-03-2011 08:16PM

Try some catfood. Locate your trap near where maggies perch.

Dupont · 06-03-2011 08:26PM

i hope to catch call bird.if you look at the picture it looks like he was in it as the nest was about 7 inches wide with 2 eggs in the middle.the door had sprung up. im wondering would somone have let him out as the trap is close to a road.would the magpie eat the egg in trap compartment straightaway or after he calm down when realise he is trapped because a lot of people walk the road and i didnt check too early

johngalway · 06-03-2011 08:44PM

I've had young magpies squeeze out through 2"x2" weldmesh, but your chicken wire (?) looks a lot smaller than that. So, I'd say you're right, if he was in, someone let him out.

By the by, we found a determined magpie can break chicken wire (one used to fight with my call bird from the outside of the trap - eventually he made a hole in, killed the call bird and forgot to leave :pac: ), and a lazy greycrow can do it easily. Which is why we switched to the weldmesh.

Dupont · 06-03-2011 09:04PM

johngalway wrote: »

I've had young magpies squeeze out through 2"x2" weldmesh, but your chicken wire (?) looks a lot smaller than that. So, I'd say you're right, if he was in, someone let him out.

the magpie that i disturbed looked very small so maybe he came back for breakfast.there would be a gap about 2" in places where the door closes at the top so will have to modify he might have escaped through it. John i think i seen in other posts your ladder trap would you be able to pm me some pictures of it,and how to bait it,going to try reduce numbers on boss farm

Birdnuts · 06-03-2011 11:42PM

Offal has worked well for me as regards baiting Larsen traps in the past few months:)

johngalway · 07-03-2011 12:28AM

Dupont wrote: »

the magpie that i disturbed looked very small so maybe he came back for breakfast.there would be a gap about 2" in places where the door closes at the top so will have to modify he might have escaped through it. John i think i seen in other posts your ladder trap would you be able to pm me some pictures of it,and how to bait it,going to try reduce numbers on boss farm

I'll tell you what I'm going to do next, which will be an improvement on what I've done previously.

I've binned the wooden ladder trap. It's too cumbersome. LT MK2 will be made from weldmesh and cable tied together. It'll be eight foot long, six foot wide and six foot high at it's highest point.

Not yet sure on the ladder dimensions. I know Terrier was doing a 3" gap fo greycrows and I'll likely follow suit as it's them I'm after mostly. There will be a mesh section at the start and end of the ladder to prevent them climbing the walls and out.

Best advice I can give on the ladder is figure out a system that allows it to be adjustable so you can play around with the settings. Off the top of my head, two lengths of metal for the sides. Lengths of threaded bar with small gauge pipe over them (more comfortable to birds feet) then a nut on either end to hold in place. You could have holes an inch apart along either side, therefore making it quite adjustable.

I am not certain whether or not magpies would need skirting coming down inside from the ladder. I would try it without first.

All you need then is feed, water and shelter. Oh, and perching rungs inside. I'd suggest in the higher vaulted (?) sections.

Never really targetted magpies with a LT, think the Larsen may be the better trap for them.

Dupont · 07-03-2011 08:04PM

Birdnuts wrote: »

Offal has worked well for me as regards baiting Larsen traps in the past few months:)

whats offal?

johngalway wrote: »

I'll tell you what I'm going to do next, which will be an improvement on what I've done previously.

I've binned the wooden ladder trap. It's too cumbersome. LT MK2 will be made from weldmesh and cable tied together. It'll be eight foot long, six foot wide and six foot high at it's highest point.

Not yet sure on the ladder dimensions. I know Terrier was doing a 3" gap fo greycrows and I'll likely follow suit as it's them I'm after mostly. There will be a mesh section at the start and end of the ladder to prevent them climbing the walls and out.

Best advice I can give on the ladder is figure out a system that allows it to be adjustable so you can play around with the settings. Off the top of my head, two lengths of metal for the sides. Lengths of threaded bar with small gauge pipe over them (more comfortable to birds feet) then a nut on either end to hold in place. You could have holes an inch apart along either side, therefore making it quite adjustable.

I am not certain whether or not magpies would need skirting coming down inside from the ladder. I would try it without first.

All you need then is feed, water and shelter. Oh, and perching rungs inside. I'd suggest in the higher vaulted (?) sections.

Never really targetted magpies with a LT, think the Larsen may be the better trap for them.

sorry meant to say crows. the place is over run with them

Dupont · 07-03-2011 08:19PM

this is getting bad now magpies 2 richard 0
there getting an apeptite for my free range eggs now.set it up again last night.no action at 8 this morning but when got home from work it was triggered.heading out now to make a couple of modifcations

Tackleberrywho · 07-03-2011 08:54PM

I've caught nothing, yet something took an egg out of it without tripping the trap.
The Call bird is not making it any more inviting either.

I think I may invest in a purpose build trap

ianoo · 07-03-2011 09:08PM

your trap looks fine i have the same springs /gaps on mine and have no trouble with mags getting out that way ,
could it be rats taking/eating the eggs and setting the trap off ???
i find the best thing to catch your first magpie is a dead opened rabbit in the catch compartments ,works great for greys as well

ian

Dusty87 · 07-03-2011 09:10PM

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I've caught nothing, yet something took an egg out of it without tripping the trap.
The Call bird is not making it any more inviting either.

I think I may invest in a purpose build trap

Give it back to me so. I was gettin nearly one a day in it last year. Il send ya pics;).

Dupont · 07-03-2011 09:50PM

ianoo wrote: »

your trap looks fine i have the same springs /gaps on mine and have no trouble with mags getting out that way ,
could it be rats taking/eating the eggs and setting the trap off ???
i find the best thing to catch your first magpie is a dead opened rabbit in the catch compartments ,works great for greys as well

ian

i dont think its rats eating cos it seems like a hole picked in eggg like magpie

Bamanlou · 07-03-2011 10:07PM

did you try cat food ? if you set it near a mag nest you might have luck , a call bird is definately the quickest way . mags are very weary if they see you hang around the trap too much .the trap looks good could be a number of reasons you didnt have success try moving it around a bit

Dupont · 07-03-2011 10:46PM

have got it set up again for take 3.hopefully more luck tomorrow.i wound the spring around again so now its even quicker to close,if somone is letting the bird out i will probaly find there amputated hand in it:D i might move it in a couple days if still no joy but so far i have set it twice and its been triggered twice so theyre intrested.the neighbours will be wondering why there chickens arnt laying eggs the last couple days;)

jim bowie · 11-03-2011 11:59AM

best bait is a dead rabbit with guts hanging out,brings magpies from miles around.

prints · 11-03-2011 12:30PM

I buy a bag of oats from the creamery (E10 for 35kg bag). I zero my .22lr at 75 yards and spread a thick line of oats from a bucket in a few spots in the area.
This brings in 20 - 40 crows for long periods.
Once the rooks and jackdaws are present, magpies and greycrows grow much more confident and come in to investigate.

Athough I use this method for shooting, I'd say this would increase visits to your Larsen trap too if it was left in the area.

Tackleberrywho · 11-03-2011 12:51PM

My call bird is gone to that nest in the sky. He was found RIP yesterday after being very perky the day before.
Would a rat have killed him?

blackstairsboy · 11-03-2011 09:07PM

I got a rat in mine last year and had to get a ferret in to kill him. The poor old magpie just keeled off the perch as dead as a dodo he must of had a heart attack when the rat and the ferret started to fight:rolleyes:

Tackleberrywho · 11-03-2011 09:12PM

I "Acquired" another call bird today.

I must try and get this trap operational over the weekend.

macadam · 11-03-2011 09:47PM

prints wrote: »

I buy a bag of oats from the creamery (E10 for 35kg bag). I zero my .22lr at 75 yards and spread a thick line of oats from a bucket in a few spots in the area.
This brings in 20 - 40 crows for long periods.
Once the rooks and jackdaws are present, magpies and greycrows grow much more confident and come in to investigate.

Athough I use this method for shooting, I'd say this would increase visits to your Larsen trap too if it was left in the area.

It might also increase the amount of rats

Dupont · 17-03-2011 11:16AM

eventually got myself a call bird. he hasnt done any calling yet,i hope he isnt the silent type

Tackleberrywho · 17-03-2011 01:52PM

Dupont wrote: »

eventually got myself a call bird. he hasnt done any calling yet,i hope he isnt the silent type

Depends

I had two that were very quiet, The current one is bigger, and I am guessing a Male. He gets a lot of attention.

Still nothing in teh trap though.

He likes Hen eggs and sauceages BTW

Dupont · 17-03-2011 06:32PM

had to dispatch the callbird:mad: he wasnt making any noise at all and was beating himself again the wire. i moved him into the proper section and give him food and water but he was mad and kept picking at the wire and around he beak was bleading badly and had the perch covered in it:mad: so its back to the drawing board. hope it doesnt take another month to catch one:o

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No joy with larsen trap

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