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Home made pigeon trap

33K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  11-87 Va 
#1 ·
Put this together today and figured I'd post up. May have been done before but I've never seen peg board hooks used for the door. They swing in and don't swing backwards on their own so there is nothing for the birds to step over. Already caught a couple today.

 
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#3 ·
Dang, I like that design. I tried to make one before that didn't work out too well, so I stuck with catching them on the roost. The trap door was the issue with the trap I made in the past. I've got a crate I made, that's almost identical to the trap you've got, and it wouldn't take much to modify the door like you've got yours. I may have to give trapping another try.

Thanks for the pics. :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
Stopper,
What keeps your pivoting rods from swinging to either side allowing pigeons to escape? I usually have some opened squares at the bottom of the opening for the rods to swing back down into, inline, so they won't move to the side and/or outward. I've also used a thin strip of wood wired to the cage with short nails through the strip every 1/2" to keep the rods inline when the rods close as the pigeons go in. You may have a better way? Can't quite tell from the pic. Always looking for improvements. Looks good! Gonna put a handle & access door on the top?

If this is your first effort at trapping pigeons, you will probably want to put a piece of cardboard in the bottom. They are 'crapping machines' and your car/truck will get a load in it.
 
#7 ·
tenfingergrip said:
Stopper,
What keeps your pivoting rods from swinging to either side allowing pigeons to escape? I usually have some opened squares at the bottom of the opening for the rods to swing back down into, inline, so they won't move to the side and/or outward. I've also used a thin strip of wood wired to the cage with short nails through the strip every 1/2" to keep the rods inline when the rods close as the pigeons go in. You may have a better way? Can't quite tell from the pic. Always looking for improvements. Looks good! Gonna put a handle & access door on the top?

If this is your first effort at trapping pigeons, you will probably want to put a piece of cardboard in the bottom. They are 'crapping machines' and your car/truck will get a load in it.
2nd attempt but first successful attempt :lol3: It's hard to explain exactly but you hang the peg board hooks on the outside of the wire. This way they can swing in but if they try to go back out the upper part pushes against the wire. I will add pics, between pictures and that description I hope it's clear enough. I double layered the wire mesh on the front to add more rigidity to give the rods more to push against. Access door and handle are to come wanted to see success before I went all out.
 
#10 ·
Good innovation! Still interested if the rods hanging down will move enough, side to side, to allow pigeon to escape. That was my biggest problem when I made my first trap over 35 years ago. I now use the steel from politcal signs, bending the steel rods in a tight horseshoe shape, then bending the closed end of the horseshoe to encircle a straight piece of steel that serves as support for the swinging of about 4 of those double rods hanging down. ( So when the pigeon enters two or 4 or six rods swing in) I use washers between to make the spacing proper. These drop back down into the nails or wire that is sticking out into the trap so the exit is blocked.

I like the fact that you don't have to do any bending of the rods, just want to make sure they have a way to prohibit the swinging of the rods to the side. Think I'll try your idea for my next trap. I've sold over 20 of these things over the years.
 
#13 ·
Given time, some pigeons can be surprisingly clever about flipping the bobs up and slipping out, and when one sees another do it, it's "monkey see...", and you may lose everything you had. (Says a guy who had nearly an entire loft figure it out before he removed everything they could stand on to work its bobs.) By the same token, there's no better pigeon bait than leaving a Judas bird inside the trap to attract others and make them jealous of its access to the feed, but once he's eaten, ol' Judas has nothing else to do but work on escape. Which may well do before others see him.

So if I were building a trap, I'd use an open-winged door, hinged at the top but wider than the main opening, so it only swings in as the birds try to shoulder through the wings. And I'd want at least two to a side, as shown here:
 
#14 ·
olclamman said:
the pigeon bars should be closer together - the part that hooks on to the straight bar should touch each other
or the birds will push them apart do a search for pigeons stuff and look at the doors they sell
oc

seeya in the pines
My thought too....
 
#15 ·
Rick Hall said:
Given time, some pigeons can be surprisingly clever about flipping the bobs up and slipping out, and when one sees another do it, it's "monkey see...", and you may lose everything you had. (Says a guy who had nearly an entire loft figure it out before he removed everything they could stand on to work its bobs.) By the same token, there's no better pigeon bait than leaving a Judas bird inside the trap to attract others and make them jealous of its access to the feed, but once he's eaten, ol' Judas has nothing else to do but work on escape. Which may well do before others see him.

So if I were building a trap, I'd use an open-winged door, hinged at the top but wider than the main opening, so it only swings in as the birds try to shoulder through the wings. And I'd want at least two to a side, as shown here:
:thumbsup: Mey, I like dat even better!!!
 
#16 ·
I was playing with it more last night and even though it does work it does need improvement. I was going for simple parts that can be picked up at hardware store and have it so they don't have to step over anything on the way in. The step over at the bottom may not be detrimental to the pigeon but I've read a couple places they say it is a turn off. I've got some more ideas I will play with when I get back home next week to play off this same design.

Rick still waiting for your picture to load, a little slow out here in the sticks. May end up with a trap version 2.5 by the time I'm done.
 
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