Illegal Traps?

[ASLAN]

Can anyone identify this type of trap and whether it's illegal and should be reported? Both were found on a managed grouse moor in the North Pennines earlier today.

As you can see they are positioned on a short pole across a drainage ditch. a short wire tunnel open at one end with trap inside. As you can see in the second picture a bird has been caught. Rather to decomposed for me to identify but clearly a bird of prey from its claws and a chestnut brown as best I could tell. Possibly a male kestrel

 

[warthog1981]

The traps look like Fenn traps so are legal But by law they need to be checked at least once a day .
Are the tunnels open ended ?
or closed at one end ?
Sometime a bait animal or bird is used to attract a small predator in to the trap and you can get mice setting of the trap and it catches the bait.

And sometimes you get people putting dead thing into the traps trying to get the keepers into trouble .

Occasionally you do catch not target species.

Have you go a better picture of whats in the trap ?

Cheers Russ

 

[Joonsy]

it looks like a Fenn Mark 4 trap to me, they are designed for rats often used in ''tunnel traps'', the wire covering is meant to protect larger animals being caught i would have thought, the fact the bird has decomposed obviously means trap has not been inspected regularly, it is possible the bird entered the tunnel if something was initially catched to get an ''easy meal'' by scavenging but then found it could not get out and became trapped, if a tight fit it would not be able to go forward because of trap and also would not be able to go backward as it's wings would probably trap it inside, though not an expert on legal side i believe they have to be set in a tunnel (the wire netting would be the tunnel), however it obviously han't been checked if bird was decomposed. I would think it enetered by scavenging on a dead animal and sadly became trapped itself.

 

[Retired Member southey]

i'm not sure i'll have check but i think they should have a small tag on them with an identifing number and the phone number for the local constabulary where they can confirm if the trapper is legit or not, i will always destory a trap if there is a dead animal in it that has clearly not been checked in a while.

 

[Gerald]

Looks legal to me if the trap is checked regularly.

 

[warthog1981]

i'm not sure i'll have check but i think they should have a small tag on them with an identifing number and the phone number for the local constabulary where they can confirm if the trapper is legit or not, i will always destory a trap if there is a dead animal in it that has clearly not been checked in a while.

I think your referring to fox snares that need to be tagged.

The best thing to do it check the trap after 24 hours and if its not been reset and emptied the contact your local wildlife liaisons officer.

 

[w00dsmoke]

.

And sometimes you get people putting dead thing into the traps trying to get the keepers into trouble .

I've known very few "straight" keepers in area's where there are grouse or pheasant shoots and I've never heard of anyone putting stuff into traps to target keepers. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it imust be very very very rare.
For many years I've assisted/trained wildlife cops and wildlife charities on wildlife crime and never seen or heard of that yet. However in Fife I've found and asisted in the investigation of poisoned badgers on one of the largest estates with a history of poisoning birds of prey, countless other acts in Fife and Perthshire such as fen traps on dykes for birds of prey, suspected poison baits, badger poisoning etc...it's a huge problem and a SHAME on the UK that we have some of the weakest wildlife crime laws in the world.

Anyway going back to the trap...depends what's in the tunnel and how it's set up/baited etc. I would call a wildlife cop out and DON'T touch anything. Insists on forensics for the bird of prey and surrounding context. Without seeing it in detail it's hard to tell, it may very well be legal however a bird of prey in a tunnel trap that looks like it was set for something crossing the wee bridge via a tunnel, is suspicious.

 

[Oblio13]

Seems like an odd sort of trap for a bird of prey to enter. Maybe it was roadkill used as bait?

 

[warthog1981]

Ive trained as a gamekeeper in my younger days and have been around keepers for a few years and I have had birds put in my traps and seen others who have to.

No offence intended but are you sure it was a bird of prey ?

 

[Oblio13]

I... are you sure it was a bird of pray ?

You mean like one of those Episcopalian Kestrels?

 

[warthog1981]

lol aye there huge naw sorry just a typo

 

[Joonsy]

fenn traps are supposed to be used ''unbaited'', the animal that set off the trap off should be ''scissored'' in the middle of trap's jaws (if not interfered with), was there any other animal in trap besides bird, is so was that animal catched in trap's jaws or just lying alongside it, was the bird itself catched by trap (it would have been ''scissored'' by trap's jaws around head area if so) or just lying in tunnel by trap but not catched by trap itself, also how long was the snow in photo on the ground, was there any footprints in snow around trap/pole area suggesting human activity while snow was down, those questions may possibly supply relevant answers.

 

[ASLAN]

Hadn't thought of the possibility of the bird having been road kill and used as bait. The trap certainly is odd if the intention had been to trap a bird. Didn't think to look closely enough to see if the bird was laying alongside the trap in the cage. Can't imagine what it was if it wasn't a small bird of prey.

Aiming to trap a small mammal makes sense from the location but other than rabbits, which are plentiful, can't imagine what would be the prey. - But then I'm no expert on these things.

 

[Scally]

there is no way that a bird could get into the trap like that for one the board as been knocked by 180 degrees the tunnel should run on top! you can put stickers on fenns but not compulsory and thats why theres a tunnel to stop anything like a bird going in the last thing the keeper would have done is to capture some of his breeding stock it also looks like the traps have been sprung for a bit which is acceptable to be left unchecked you do not have to remove them from the area while sprung. it does however look like someone has stuffed the bird in afterwards for whatever reason. when traps have been used unlawfly they are usally placed on top of poles (sitting / prey stumps) to trap birds of prey.if you bait which most keepers never do because the prey species use tunnels and boards as discreet or crossing points. in my opinon the trap has been tamperded with. my father was a keeper for most of his life and so was I for a good few years.

 

[Bothwell_Craig]

Report it to your local Police Wildlife Crime officer please as a matter of urgency!!!

It would be unlikely that a bird of any sort would get caught in a trap set like that because of its design.

It will be set for weasel or stoat, probably a mark v fenn and the tunnel makes it legal (mostly) dependant on local species.

Its more complicated than you think but please, please report it locally. If you can't get the local wco please ask for it to be passed onto them

Any other questions just shout.

Can anyone identify this type of trap and whether it's illegal and should be reported? Both were found on a managed grouse moor in the North Pennines earlier today.

As you can see they are positioned on a short pole across a drainage ditch. a short wire tunnel open at one end with trap inside. As you can see in the second picture a bird has been caught. Rather to decomposed for me to identify but clearly a bird of prey from its claws and a chestnut brown as best I could tell. Possibly a male kestrel

 

[Bothwell_Craig]

...i will always destory a trap if there is a dead animal in it that has clearly not been checked in a while.

While I understand your sentiment you are actually destroying what is in essence evidential. Could you just photograph it, note its location and report it instead please?