Everything on the control side of keepering, in one place - traps, lamping kit, calls and decoys. Fenn Mk4 and Mk6 spring traps, Trap Man Larsen cages in top-entry, twin side-entry and clam patterns, live cage traps for squirrel and mink, Clulite and Cyclops lamps, Lightforce spares, Acme predator calls and flocked crow and magpie decoys from Jack Pyke and Sport Plast.
The legal position - read this before you buy
Trapping is one of the most tightly regulated things a keeper does, and the rules differ between Scotland and England and Wales. In outline:
- Spring traps may only be used for the species, and in the manner, set out in the Spring Traps Approval Order for your country. An approved trap used the wrong way, or for the wrong species, is an offence.
- Live catch traps for corvids operate under a general licence, and the licences are not the same in Scotland as in England and Wales. They are reissued and amended, so check the current one rather than the one you read last season.
- In Scotland you need a trap operator number from the police, displayed on a durable identification tag on the trap. A BASC Scotland trap identification sign is stocked for that purpose.
- Live traps must be checked at intervals of no more than 24 hours. A decoy bird needs food, water, shelter and a perch. When a trap is not in use it must be rendered incapable of catching.
None of the above is legal advice and it is a summary, not the licence. Get your operator number from the police and read the current general licence for the country you are working in.
Practical notes
- Set for the run, not the sighting. A tunnel trap works because the animal has nowhere else to put its feet; a badly sited approved trap catches nothing and is still a legal liability.
- Lamping: a red or amber filter is far less likely to spook a worked fox than white. On ground that has been lamped hard, expect them to run at the first flick of a beam.
- Decoys work on sightlines. A flocked magpie set where a resident bird can see it from its own territory will do more than six set in a field corner.
Related: Traps · Lamping & Accessories · Decoys · Calls & Lures · Night Vision & Thermal · Game Release & Feeding.
