catching crows, rooks and magpies

[kernow oli 28]

Hi all,

I have just started a new job as bird control At newquay airfield and there are alot of crows living around the outskirts in various locations and i have been asked to try and trap them, i have done some larsen trapping before on some maggies but never cauught any thing else. i was hoping for some advice from someone on here as to where is best to set traps and whats the best bait etc, i have an all metal larsen trap and two side opening traps, which of these is best for which species??????

any help will be very grateful,

thanks

oli

[patdahat 41]

i use a larson top entry and some slices of bread for bait throw in some of the wrapper for some luck happy trapping

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

I dont know how much experience you have mate, but heres some things ive learnt(might help)... I would get a letter box trap or two (or enough to cover area), decent sized ones... feed wheat/barley inside with doors open until they are feeding all the time from it.. then shut the door, if your luckey and dont spook them off the trap, you might get a very large catch... it has worked well for me with rooks and jackdaws in big numbers.

 

For best results visit the trap at dusk time and you wont be putting birds off the traps.

 

For crows and magpies, use the larsen trap... you will need call birds which need to be looked after and housed properly. Rabbit and eggs will do as bait. Watch out for the areas where seperate pairs of crows and magpies live, then move the trap from one to the next and you will soon have them mopped up.

After that I usually find the area can attract lots of non-breeding crows, perhaps juvenile from last year, they might mob together and are best attracted into the letterbox, once one drops more usually follow.

 

[kernow oli 28]

Thanks for that, i have nt got alot of experience trapping these whiley buggers, and not sure what a letter box trap looks like, but if they work my boss will buy some?? any advice is good advice to me at the mo!

cheers

[moley 115]

Thanks for that, i have nt got alot of experience trapping these whiley buggers, and not sure what a letter box trap looks like, but if they work my boss will buy some?? any advice is good advice to me at the mo!

cheers

 

no offence , but why would you be taken on to control corvids when you have no experience of corvid control ?

[stephen58 1]

can I ask is the run~way grass ? if so the corvids could be ripping up the grass for leather~jackets , got the same problem down here in sussex on several golf course,s got the green ~keepers to spray the entire course with there tractors , end of problem , now I have just got to sort out the Moles , best regards Steve

[Tis TM 8]

Thanks for that, i have nt got alot of experience trapping these whiley buggers, and not sure what a letter box trap looks like, but if they work my boss will buy some?? any advice is good advice to me at the mo!

cheers

 

no offence , but why would you be taken on to control corvids when you have no experience of corvid control ?

 

Everyone has to start somewhere...

[kernow oli 28]

moley no offence taken but its not just corvids its all birds that are a threat to the aircraft landing at the airfield, its busy all day with air craft ranging from small prop planes to large jet aircraft. we are surrounded by farmland and a woods so corvids are our main species, its mainly done by a load speaker in our landrover or blank pistols or rockets, but this seems to just move them about, so other than shooting them which isnt always practical with aircraft around we are going to try and trap them too.

The runway isnt grass but does have alot of gras around it which when cut back soon we are going to try some spraying area s to see whether it helps keep the rooks and crows away.

so any help regards trapping etc is a help you see.

cheers,

oli