Good news

Thing's are starting to move along. I found that the big access side only had one zip tie keeping it shut and an edge had been bent up. I'm pretty sure that is how the bird escaped, the dog is teaching me a lot about my designs. I zip tied it down and no more escapes. Wednesday I caught two more birds, so I added them to the V trap bringing us to three guests. But first here is a picture of the rubber gasket and then the hook.

And now the next birds caught. Two fer.

 The V seems about right now with three, and outside starlings are crawling all over it, but even with lots of bait inside and some on the restricter plate outside, none have entered. My wife mentioned suggested when the newly fledged ones are out during the warmer weather we might have a lot more luck. My sponsor recommended adding a place for the starlings to hide when they're stressed. So my large CO2 chamber became a hiding spot.

Here are the components on the Mack truck, and there's the V trap's new home. The little opening contraption is called a blast gate. It's made of ABS and is normally part of a woodworker's dust vacuuming system.

 I painted it black, screwed a dowel going from side to side, and put in a rabbit wire floor to keep them out of their feces. Now it is mounted to the side of the trap supported by a shelf and a wire retainer.

Now when I want to clear out the birds I can slide the gate shut and still use it as a CO2 chamber. Here bit is mounted on the trap.

 

And now for the best part, this morning when we went to check the trap and there were FIVE starlings in there!

My daughter helped me transfer them into the smaller box and I gassed them. It was quick and smooth. We put them in baggies and went to get a couple English sparrows my dad caught in a funnel trap. Very productive day. Total: 3 caught but escaped, 3 in the V, and 10 in the freezer.

Here we are bagging the birds.