Larsen trap

[Lloyd90]

Can anyone recommend a Larsen trap? 
 

Preferably multi catch so it can catch more than one? 
 

are the round ones better than the square ones or makes no difference?

 

There’s one on eBay takes 1x call bird and has 2x trap compartments for £140 🤔 does that sound about right? 

[jall25]

Morning 

In my opinion the round ones dont give enough room for the call bird but do let the birds walk in rather than fly down

We still use the old wooden ones which take some moving to be honest

I wish sometimes i was a "handy" chap as i would make some but im more of a destructor not a constructor unfortunately 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, try these,  discount pest control.co.uk, you will get 2 Larsen traps for the price of that one shown and they make themselves, 

[Lloyd90]

2 hours ago, jall25 said:

Morning 

In my opinion the round ones dont give enough room for the call bird but do let the birds walk in rather than fly down

We still use the old wooden ones which take some moving to be honest

I wish sometimes i was a "handy" chap as i would make some but im more of a destructor not a constructor unfortunately 

 

I have a massive roll of fairly heavy duty wire so I might just try and knock some up  

[Bobba]

If you haven’t done so already then GL33 is a useful read.

We back on to allotments with its fair share of magpies. A couple of years back I borrowed a trap from the farm including Malcolm the bait bird. Very successful until some tree hugging person reported me to the RSPCA. They shoved a note through my door wanting to discuss my trapping of wild birds. I politely told them to sod off. But not to start a street war I returned Macolm to the farm. Pity really. It was very successful. Now it’s my AA S410 within the confines of my garden.

[Jim Neal]

Going rate for a weldmesh double catch trap with call bird compartment is around the 70-80 mark before postage so that's well overpriced Lloyd.

This guy is fairly local to us so I'm not sure about postage costs, but the traps are very good quality.

https://www.facebook.com/colinstrapsmadetocatch/

Top entry is usually sufficient for magpies, but the odd bird won't hop down into them so a trap with one side and one top is useful in your armoury.  Side entry is the thing for crows, they're a bit less inclined to jump down into a top entry.

If you can operate a chop saw, tape measure and a few other simple tools you could knock your own traps together the traditional way.  It really isn't difficult if you're moderately handy.  I've made one to the spec on this website and it went quite well:

https://www.thehuntinglife.com/how-to-build-a-larsen-trap/

I was very impressed, and it's a hell of  lot cheaper than buying them, you just have to apply your time to it.  I'm going to knock another four together soon, unfortunately other things are occupying my time this Spring so I'm setting my sights on next year, I'll just have to do with the few traps I've got this year.

Running one trap on its own is never very productive.  You have to have several so you can tune in to the locations that are successful.  Be vigilant as to the magpies' territories and keep moving the traps around until you get a pair.  Never leave it more than 48 hours without catching, move the trap on, sometimes it only needs to be 50-100 yds further along a hedge.

Keep your traps well out of sight of Joe Public otherwise you'll find out what a bunch of *****s they are 🤬

[ShootingEgg]

I have one I built a few years back, running it in my back garden, so far no catch but I don't currently have a call bird, just a made nest with a couple pheasant eggs in it, not seen many around my garden but there are loads round

[jall25]

Spoke to Colin as recommended by Jim above

 

What a cracking chap !

Thanks Jim -hopefully popping down to see him when he recovers from Covid

[Jonty]

I have a trap Man double catch Larsen as per your picture Lloyd.  I think it was around £70 a few years back so that price seems steep.  It's well made and solid and I'd happily recommend his kit to anyone based on my own experience.  the only con is the 'token' piece of plastic sheet that is meant to be the shade/cover for the call bird.  It's not robust enough in my opinion - i replaced mine with something stronger.

[Jonty]

On 09/04/2022 at 09:53, Lloyd90 said:

 

I have a massive roll of fairly heavy duty wire so I might just try and knock some up  

if you google Larsen trap springs you'll be able to buy some very easily, they're worth getting rather than trying to use bungee cord or the like if you do decide to make one

[Lloyd90]

Thank you 🙏🏻 

[Jim Neal]

On 12/04/2022 at 20:45, jall25 said:

Spoke to Colin as recommended by Jim above

 

What a cracking chap !

Thanks Jim -hopefully popping down to see him when he recovers from Covid

👍 He was at Kelmarsh the other day, looked in good health!  They are very good traps.

[jall25]

On 22/04/2022 at 23:09, Jim Neal said:

👍 He was at Kelmarsh the other day, looked in good health!  They are very good traps.

Good to hear!

Thanks !

[Lloyd90]

On 09/04/2022 at 22:16, Jim Neal said:

Going rate for a weldmesh double catch trap with call bird compartment is around the 70-80 mark before postage so that's well overpriced Lloyd.

This guy is fairly local to us so I'm not sure about postage costs, but the traps are very good quality.

https://www.facebook.com/colinstrapsmadetocatch/

Top entry is usually sufficient for magpies, but the odd bird won't hop down into them so a trap with one side and one top is useful in your armoury.  Side entry is the thing for crows, they're a bit less inclined to jump down into a top entry.

If you can operate a chop saw, tape measure and a few other simple tools you could knock your own traps together the traditional way.  It really isn't difficult if you're moderately handy.  I've made one to the spec on this website and it went quite well:

https://www.thehuntinglife.com/how-to-build-a-larsen-trap/

I was very impressed, and it's a hell of  lot cheaper than buying them, you just have to apply your time to it.  I'm going to knock another four together soon, unfortunately other things are occupying my time this Spring so I'm setting my sights on next year, I'll just have to do with the few traps I've got this year.

Running one trap on its own is never very productive.  You have to have several so you can tune in to the locations that are successful.  Be vigilant as to the magpies' territories and keep moving the traps around until you get a pair.  Never leave it more than 48 hours without catching, move the trap on, sometimes it only needs to be 50-100 yds further along a hedge.

Keep your traps well out of sight of Joe Public otherwise you'll find out what a bunch of *****s they are 🤬

 

 

I spoke with Colin tonight, have ordered one of his Larsen traps, 1x call bird compartment, 1x top entry and 1x side entry.

Colin said he found this combo very effective as sometimes the magpies won't drop down into the top entry (have experienced this on our farm). 

 

£80 for the larsen, the kicker is £30 postage is they are solid traps, but sound real good, not flat pack rubbish.

 

I have a bunch of wire so can always knock up some like you have done based off the one I buy or those plans. 

Hopefully get me off to a good start  

[Novice]

If you can stretch to it, a larsen mate, preferably 2, will increase your catch rate considerably. It may be that they're catching birds that would eventually end up in the main catching compartments, but I'd say at least 70% of the birds I catch, whether crows or magpies, are in the larsen mates adjacent to the main trap. 

You've already bought a trap by the sounds of it, but for anyone else looking, I'd say the albi-trap version is about the strongest and best value double catching compartment trap around. 

[Jim Neal]

23 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

 

I spoke with Colin tonight, have ordered one of his Larsen traps, 1x call bird compartment, 1x top entry and 1x side entry.

Colin said he found this combo very effective as sometimes the magpies won't drop down into the top entry (have experienced this on our farm). 

 

£80 for the larsen, the kicker is £30 postage is they are solid traps, but sound real good, not flat pack rubbish.

 

I have a bunch of wire so can always knock up some like you have done based off the one I buy or those plans. 

Hopefully get me off to a good start  

You won't be disappointed with it Lloyd 👍

Yep, postage is a pain, it's just the size of the thing.  For future reference I think he goes to a few of the game fairs etc, he was at Kelmarsh last weekend, so if you are going to any such events and want more traps in the future it's worth checking in advance.

A little tip with the top-entry trap: he cleverly uses a small screw inserted into the perch, against which the trap door edge holds in place.  You might need to very slightly adjust the screw either in or out a little bit to get the right "fineness" on the trap set.  If you have found the top trap to have sprung when the bottom one has caught, set the screw a little more proud so it's less sensitive.

The side entry has a different trigger, it's pretty sound in terms of staying set when the top door springs but you can fettle it a bit, with a little ingenuity. Happy trapping

Edited April 26, 2022 by Jim Neal

[Lloyd90]

On 27/04/2022 at 00:29, Jim Neal said:

You won't be disappointed with it Lloyd 👍

Yep, postage is a pain, it's just the size of the thing.  For future reference I think he goes to a few of the game fairs etc, he was at Kelmarsh last weekend, so if you are going to any such events and want more traps in the future it's worth checking in advance.

A little tip with the top-entry trap: he cleverly uses a small screw inserted into the perch, against which the trap door edge holds in place.  You might need to very slightly adjust the screw either in or out a little bit to get the right "fineness" on the trap set.  If you have found the top trap to have sprung when the bottom one has caught, set the screw a little more proud so it's less sensitive.

The side entry has a different trigger, it's pretty sound in terms of staying set when the top door springs but you can fettle it a bit, with a little ingenuity. Happy trapping

 

Yes it’s bloody massive no wonder it cost £30! 
 

I took it down the shoot Friday, but I didn’t set it. 
 

My mate caught a magpie in his Larsen so he went down yesterday and set the trap, and it has caught another one this morning already  

 

Just out of interest, does it work better to have a call bird from a different area? 

[B725]

It will work better if you can get a bird from elsewhere it's not uncommon to catch two at the same time, we used to make our own traps from some roof batons and chicken wire 

[Jim Neal]

11 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Yes it’s bloody massive no wonder it cost £30! 
 

I took it down the shoot Friday, but I didn’t set it. 
 

My mate caught a magpie in his Larsen so he went down yesterday and set the trap, and it has caught another one this morning already  

 

Just out of interest, does it work better to have a call bird from a different area? 

Glad you've got the ball rolling Lloyd

There are some "rules of thumb" which pertain to the behaviour of magpies and how you go about trapping them.  But, honestly, in my experience they are definitely not gospel.

One belief is if you catch one bird, leave your trap set in the same place because you'll catch its mate fairly soon after.  The trapped bird calls frantically until its mate comes to the trap to assist it but instead gets itself caught as well.  Obviously humane standards need to be kept here, not leaving a trapped bird in the trap compartment - they need to be dispatched immediately or provided with adequate space, food, water and a perch.  I quite often swap the call bird for the trapped bird if I've only got one by the end of the day.  Its mate is normally in there by the next morning's check.

Mostly you trap a pair, then move the trap on somewhere else unless there's obviously more birds in that location to trap.  Sometimes you'll notice a "common area" where they are just there constantly, whereas most of the time magpies occupy a territory as a pair so once you've got two you won't trap there again for another week or so.

It is said (and I mostly believe) that if you introduce a "strange" call bird to another magpie's territory it will result in a much quicker result.  Not cast-iron guaranteed but I will not leave a call bird in the same location as I've trapped it for more than 24 hours if unproductive.

Sometimes moving the trap just 50 or 100 yds along a hedge or woodland edge can make the difference.

Never leave an unproductive trap in the same place for more than 2 days, it's pointless.  If you see a magpie there and it's not entertaining the idea of going near the trap, it's probably trap-shy so stake it out and shoot it

If you're going to drive up to your shoot and check a trap you may as well have lots of traps running.  One trap is a lot of leg work for the results gained.  You'll get the job done more quickly and effectively with multiple traps, plus if you have an unexpected bit of hostile weather or some well-meaning trespassers find a couple of your traps and decide to liberate your bird(s) you don't have to start from scratch again.

After a couple of years you'll get the hang of it, it's not rocket science

[Lloyd90]

Yes we have 2 traps on the go as one of the lads has put one there as well  

 

One of the blokes across the road (where I got my call bird from) has one as well. 
 

So within the area of the farm we have 3 on the go  

 

Might add more as time goes by.

 

Caught a MASSIVE crow yesterday in my mates one, which I dispatched quickly. 

[Jim Neal]

Good stuff. I Keep a pair of sturdy leather gardening gauntlets in the truck for removing crows, to avoid injury to the back of the hands.
 

One clamped its beak over my little finger some time ago, I’ll never forget that. Must admit it got a couple of extra whacks with the “stick of justice”. 

[deeksofdoom]

I've had great success with a couple of timber Larsens that I made up myself, I've done most of my trapping in my back garden have really put a severe dent in the local magpie population. No problem getting call birds either, as soon as a new magpie turns up in the area I scatter a few dog nuts around the trap and set it and bang in the cheeky **** goes.... caught 4 last week and Last year I caught over 20 in my back garden alone.

[Lloyd90]

On 05/05/2022 at 09:26, deeksofdoom said:

I've had great success with a couple of timber Larsens that I made up myself, I've done most of my trapping in my back garden have really put a severe dent in the local magpie population. No problem getting call birds either, as soon as a new magpie turns up in the area I scatter a few dog nuts around the trap and set it and bang in the cheeky **** goes.... caught 4 last week and Last year I caught over 20 in my back garden alone.

Dog nuts as in dog kibble / biscuits? 

[Jim Neal]

23 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Dog nuts as in dog kibble / biscuits? 

The vets have to get rid of them somewhere you know!! 😁😅

[deeksofdoom]

On 06/05/2022 at 23:17, Lloyd90 said:

Dog nuts as in dog kibble / biscuits? 

Yes