Larson Trap Advice

[Probuk 93]

Sorry just clicked on, you've already got a bird

 

They'll go in..best time is early morning when its quiet and late evening..

 

Last year i was trapping between 2 and 8 a day but remember its still early days and come spring and summer you'll be none stop trapping them.

 

Marty

Edited March 1, 2013 by Probuk

[Jimy1971 13]

Still nothing. Am hearing them nearby but nothing coming around the trap. Someone told me to raise it up off the ground and it will work better.

 

Any thoughts??

[Probuk 93]

Still nothing. Am hearing them nearby but nothing coming around the trap. Someone told me to raise it up off the ground and it will work better.

 

Any thoughts??

Move it mate, try find where there hanging around early morning and evening.

 

I have no trouble at all. They just keep coming, Ive had 12 in a week and its still early days

 

Marty

[woz 260]

How big is there territory?? Could I set the trap catch and then move it 5 or 6 fields away?? I couldn't work out why all the magpies were going mad the other day all making a [BANNED TEXT] racket.....I'd left a mink I'd trapped on a gate post so the farmer could see....

[jc43 3]

If my traps stop catching I move them 60- Yards and they can start catching again, works for me, JC.

[woz 260]

If my traps stop catching I move them 60- Yards and they can start catching again, works for me, JC.

That's cool.....I'll knock a trap up over the next few days...

[Lab 10,979]

As been said the key is moving it. You can catch regular then it just stops. You see birds around the cage, on it, on trees round it but they won't go in. Move it a short distance and there in that day.

[Probuk 93]

Breeding magpies hold a territory of about five hectares (12 acres) all year round. Because nest sites are limited, between 25% and 60% of magpies in an area do not breed. These non-breeding birds often form flocks with a home range of up to 20 hectares (about 50 acres) and may pair up within the flock.

Magpies usually breed from two years old, although some may breed at one year. They build large, domed nests in thorny bushes or high up in tall trees.

The female lays on average six greenish-blue eggs, heavily spotted with brown, in April, and incubates them for 18 to 19 days. During this time the male feeds her on the nest. Incubation starts in the middle of the laying period, so the earliest eggs hatch first.

Both parents feed the young. If the food supply is poor, the stronger, older nestlings will get all of it. This helps to ensure that at least some of them survive. They fledge after 26 to 30 days, and are fed by the parents for a further four weeks after leaving the nest.

The young birds stay in the parents' territory until September or October, when they form loose flocks, feeding and roosting together. During the winter, flocks may join to form large winter roosts. Some breeding birds may also join these roosts.

The months following fledging are a dangerous time for young magpies, with a high percentage failing to make it through the first year. If the young birds survive to breed, their average life expectancy is around three years. Some live much longer than this, with the oldest recorded being over 21 years old.

 

Marty

[Probuk 93]

Magpies have a strong bill with a sharp cutting edge, which can be used for cutting flesh, digging up invertebrates, or picking fruit. Their main diet in summer is grassland invertebrates, such as beetles, flies, caterpillars, spiders, worms and leatherjackets.

In winter, they eat more plant material, such as wild fruits, berries and grains, with household scraps and food scavenged from bird tables or chicken runs, petfoods etc. They will eat carrion at all times and catch small mammals and birds. Occasionally, magpies prey on larger animals such as young rabbits.

During the breeding season they will take eggs and young of other birds. We don't know exactly what proportion of the summer diet of urban and suburban magpies these comprise: estimates vary between 3% and 38% by weight, although most estimates are at the low end of this scale. Studies of urban magpies in Manchester showed a summer diet mostly of invertebrates with some field voles and house sparrows.

When food is abundant, magpies hoard the surplus to eat later. They make a small hole in the ground with their beak, place the food in it and cover it with grass, a stone or a leaf. These caches are spread around their territory or home range.

 

Marty

[woz 260]

That's very helpful cheers marty

[Probuk 93]

This time of years you may find it quite difficult to keep a call bird alive for more than a few day's, in some case's less, depending on the weather.

 

They need to be kept dry, if they get wet hypothermia will kill them in just a few hours and even quicker during the cold night's.

 

I managed to keep a call bird for the whole duration of last summer and when I was happy with the job he had done, I let him go. He still visitst my garden even this morning but he wont go in the trap. Magpies like crows are very intelligent and can sence danger as well as work it out.!!

 

It makes sence to bring the bird in when the weather change's for the worst. I bring mine into the garage and keep him fed and the cage coverd so not to stress him to much.

 

In the bird world magpies are very fierce and will attack all birds apart from large Hawkes. The reason they enter the trap is to attack a rival bird that has seemingley enterd their territory.

 

Marty

Edited March 12, 2013 by Probuk

[Probuk 93]

That's very helpful cheers marty

No prob's

[Lab 10,979]

This time of years you may find it quite difficult to keep a call bird alive for more than a few day's, in some case's less, depending on the weather.

 

They need to be kept dry, if they get wet hypothermia will kill them in just a few hours and even quicker during the cold night's.

 

I managed to keep a call bird for the whole duration of last summer and when I was happy with the job he had done, I let him go. He still visitst my garden even this morning but he wont go in the trap. Magpies like crows are very intelligent and can sence danger as well as work it out.!!

 

In the bird world magpies are very fierce and will attack all birds apart from large Hawkes. The reason they enter the trap is to attack a rival bird that has seemingley enterd their territory.

 

Marty

Don't have many magpies in this area but plenty crows. Caught many in the Larsen but I never kept the call bird more than a week. Oh and I never let the egg/ chick eating swine go either... Lol

[woz 260]

I put a dead mink on a fence post last week...couple hours passed n a group a maggys were going nuts at the mink...took me a few mins to realise what was going on....they've got some bottle...they didn't notice me behind them with the rifle though lok

[Probuk 93]

 

This time of years you may find it quite difficult to keep a call bird alive for more than a few day's, in some case's less, depending on the weather.

 

They need to be kept dry, if they get wet hypothermia will kill them in just a few hours and even quicker during the cold night's.

 

I managed to keep a call bird for the whole duration of last summer and when I was happy with the job he had done, I let him go. He still visitst my garden even this morning but he wont go in the trap. Magpies like crows are very intelligent and can sence danger as well as work it out.!!

 

In the bird world magpies are very fierce and will attack all birds apart from large Hawkes. The reason they enter the trap is to attack a rival bird that has seemingley enterd their territory.

 

Marty

Don't have many magpies in this area but plenty crows. Caught many in the Larsen but I never kept the call bird more than a week. Oh and I never let the egg/ chick eating swine go either... Lol

:laugh: Id kind of got attached to him after haveing him so long. He was an excellent call bird, and if i put another magpie in with it, it was dead in hour's.

 

I just want him back in my trap and il be happy

 

Marty.