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Nancy. I’ll just use your email and copy Chris’s photos and send them to you. Hope that’s OK, Chris.
Fine with me!
Chris
Toledo, OhioMaybe a little more active site? Facebook Group
Chris
Toledo, OhioMy request is for a very careful description of how high up the tray entrance I should put the anti-squirrel wire. Halfway up from the wood bottom of the perch tray? Please be specific. After catching 25 HOSP, but more to go, a squirrel has learned how to stretch across the elevator area, and eat all the millet on the “attraction tray”. And a couple of days ago, I guess it pressed down on the elevator arm because the male decoy actually escaped! So I have to solve this problem asap. I read that a wire stretched between two screw will stop them, but I don’t know what height to put the screws/wire at. Help! My trapping is at a standstill. If I am not using this forum correctly, please respond directly to my email safevote2@yahoo.com. A picture and measurement in inches would be greatly appreciated!
My anti squirrel wire is about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the opening. I have to adjust it occasionally as the squirrel will try to get in, and he does move the wire around a bit.
Check out post 748 for a pic of my wire. It’s on the 1st page of this topic.
Chris
Toledo, OhioI have not had my traps out all summer because I had been gone so much, so I put the two of them back out a week ago. Up until yesterday, I had only caught two. Then the flood gates opened…
Yesterday and so far today(1pm), I have caught 31 HOSPs! And I see several more in the past 1/2 hour.
I’m using white millet in the traps, and have nothing in my feeders right now, so that’s the only feed available for them.
I usually trap until the 1st snow, and then even after that. I did real well a few years ago even with a light snow cover. Of course, I had to keep them off the ground once the juncos come back, but I still get HOSPs even in the dead of winter. I don’t try to keep a decoy in the winter though, because it’s just too much work. Two years ago, from mid-August to the end of January, I trapped about 350, most of them before Thanksgiving.
Chris
Toledo, OhioA friend used a sparrow spooker, and it did work at keeping the sparrows out. The BBs were real wary at first, but they got used to it. It’s not as good as some of the traps, but it’s better than nothing! ;-)
Chris
Toledo, OhioThey usually ship on the next shipping day as mentioned in their page. They are in MN, so add a few days to SC.
You might consider a VanErt trap. https://www.vanerttraps.com/ It fits in the box and closes as the sparrow goes in. Of course, it has to be watched carefully, as you don’t want to trap a BB for very long.
Chris
Toledo, Ohio
Notice the two screws with the wire stretched between them to keep the squirrels out of the trap. Basically, I’ve narrowed the entrance down quite a bit. The sparrows do go in, but the squirrels can’t get their head through the elevator to eat the bait…
Chris
Toledo, OhioYes. I’ve watched HOSPs eating out of it. They seem to have no problems getting to the food or actually landing on it. I added the small wood pieces and the bottom hardware cloth just to try to keep the seed from blowing off, and they didn’t have a problem with that, so I added the top piece to keep the squirrels from eating the seed.
Right now though, after this 8″ snow, the traps are in the garage… I’ll try to get them back out in the next few days, as it’s just supposed to be cold, but no more snow.
Chris
Toledo, OhioBy Monday morning, that’s the prediction of what we will have on the ground. Three separate storms in quick succession. #1 on Saturday night with 1-2″, #2 Sunday afternoon and evening with 3-5″, and then #3 Monday evening with another 1-2″…
Looks like my pics did not appear on my last post, and now, I’m not allowed to edit them, so I’ll try again here.
Wire mesh to keep the seed from blowing off.
Additional mesh to keep squirrels from eating the seed.
Chris
Toledo, OhioI’m using the same bait/feed that’s in my feeders, with a little more millet added. The squirrels will eat all of it though if they can get to it…
We have had some really warm weather, and I have not had many birds at my feeders in the past few weeks, let alone the DRST. I have two traps, and both seem to work equally well. Some days one catches a bunch and the next, it’s the other. In the past few weeks though, it’s been slim pickings for me too. I see big flocks of sparrows around, but they have enough natural food available that they are not interested in the traps or feeders right now.
However, we are getting a little colder weather now, and birds are returning to both. This coming Sunday, we could see 4-6″ of snow and then Arctic cold, so I’ll pull the traps the day before and put them back out the day after the snow. Not a good thing when you get 5″ of snow in the traps… ;-)
This is wire to keep seed from blowing off.
This is the squirrel guard.
Chris
Toledo, OhioMy fall/winter trapping is continuing, but I’m having a major problem with squirrels eating the seed off the outside bait tray. I think I have this solved by using some 1/8″ hardware cloth stapled to the outside bait tray, and forming a hood over the tray. The HOSPs can see and get to the bait, but it’s tougher for the squirrels…
Chris
Toledo, OhioI use the same feed as I’m feeding in my feeders for bait, with a little millet mixed in, since I have the trap near my feeders. The trouble with the millet is that it keeps blowing off the trap, so the other seeds in the mix I use stay on the trap longer.
I have had the best luck with the trap elevated off the ground about 3′. I use an overturned plastic garbage can as a base, with a piece of plywood under the trap. This is especially important when the juncos come back in early winter, since they are ground feeders(usually). I have located the trap where they tend to land before going to the feeder too, with pretty good success.
I also have a wire stretched across the opening of my trap to keep out the cardinals and other larger birds(see some of my pics on pages 1 and 2). I do catch an occasional titmouse or chickadee, but only maybe once every couple of days. They don’t seem to fly around in a panic as much as the HOSPs do in the trap, and are fairly easy to grab with a gloved hand.
I mention the gloved hand, because a lot of the birds you try to get out of the trap do like to bite the glove while you are taking them out. Many times, they even keep biting the glove even when I have an open hand out of the trap. They usually do get the idea that they are free within 10 seconds or so, and rocket off.
Chris
Toledo, OhioI’ll have to try the Ritz crackers too! I just put the trap back out, as I have been so busy this summer, it was not worth it to just set it for a couple of days at a time.
I had my best trapping time in the fall last year.
A neighbor mentioned today that he’s glad I put it back out, as he had been seeing so many other native birds at his feeder since I started trapping. And I’ve seen the same thing at my feeder. After >400 HOSPs trapped in the past year, it looks like I’ve finally made a dent in their population around here. However, I caught four more today in about 4 hours.
Also caught a juvenile cardinal that really bit into my gloved finger as I was getting it out of the trap. And it kept biting my finger for about 15 seconds before it realized it was free to fly away! ;-)
Chris
Toledo, Ohio
