Bird lime

WillOtheWisp · Bird lime

My old man used to keep british birds,and would often catch them using bird lime,I am sure I remember him saying he got it from a local taxidermist mate of his. Do taxidermists use lime,and if so,what for?
Plus anyone know any good recipes for same,to catch rats in my shed

Gareth

Try this;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdlime

kent taxidermist

never heard of taxidermists using bird lime

isnt it boiled holly bark and leaves???

WillOtheWisp

kent taxidermist

yeah probably

pablo

what we used for bird lime years ago was rodent dack mixed with arcangel tar both were purchased at the chemist we used a fishing rod blank and a flash light spot the bird with the light and with the last four inches of the rod blank covered in the bird lime very messy but it was part of my mispent youth

WillOtheWisp

pablo

my ole fella used to call me the lodger up a the ***** of dawn and away with the russels and anybodies dog that would hunt and back at bedtime during the summer holidays at the weekend we would get him to drop us of about 10 mile away from the house and hunt all the way home to tired to bother the neighbours or cause a nuisance just born to hunt

fish

i cant realy condone taking british birds,but liming rats sounds fun!

WillOtheWisp

Tidal_wear

moocher

what was crushed snails shells used for bird liming or poisening fish in dammed rivers

ratbuster

Still available over here

It's made in Italy, by a firm called Valbrenta and sold as rat-lime, very sticky stuff even works outdoors

cost next to nothing (couple quid)

Take care,

Ratbuster

Tidal_wear

I saw tins of the stuff in the market last week RB,100% better than the lime of old,but pity the poor birds glued in this,most songbirds are sold feather-perfect,mist-nets cant be beaten for this,one problem in the UK though,they cant be bought without a licence

kent taxidermist

you cant buy mist nets with out a licence?????

you gotta be kidding me seriously!

Yeeharr

You can buy mist nets without a licence. Some companies won't sell them to you without a licence, but there are plenty that will.

pablo

Try humping a mist net about in this country 20 years ago in the height of the troubles hard enough keeping ahead of the law you had all sorts patrolling army footpatrol came across us one night batfowling we had some explaining to do but we managed to convince them we warent up to anything subversave had to hide in a filterbed in a sewerage works one night from the bspecials who could be very quick on actions and very slow on the verbals

Vic...

I heard hawthorn berrys and honey mixed into a pulp make a good bird lime. have not tried it

Vic...

pablo

As Tidal says pretty messy stuff and you usually loss more than half you catch because if the lime dident kill them then the stuff you would use to clean them usually killed what you had left the honey and berries mighten be a bad alternative but its still messy hard to beat a caller and a cage nowdays i prefare to watch them squabble in the back garden on the nuts and the niger seed or listen to them note out of the beech in the garden on a sunny day

zilch

Hi just re-joined so only just read your post re- bird lime I used to make it a long time ago using chloride of lime (from chemist) and old fashioned boiled carpenters glue (animal glue) ..Boil the glue add the lime (looks like flour).. the glue never sets even when cold let us know how you get on

Tidal_wear

fishy1

How exactly do you use a mist net? Is it hung between trees? And could you just substitue a gill net, or is this way too thick? Are mist nets multi mono? And do you drive birds into it?

Tidal_wear

The first mist net I ever got 20 years ago was made from japanese silk,great net,even caught humming-birds and bats with it abroad,and used it several times to scoop shoals of fry from pools and streams,it still bundled down and fitted in a shirt-pocket,incredibly fine.
I have a few now,made in either polyester or nylon,they are lofted up on poles,you dont drive birds into them,you either set them on flight-lines or entice birds in using judas or call-birds,I never used a gill net,mist nets come in a number of sizes ranging from humming-bird to duck and owl

fishy1

And do you set them taught on the poles, or slack?

Ducks, pheasants and grouse would be what I'm after. So do you need stronger line for the larger birds? Just how thick is the line roughly? Are nylon ones mono or braided or whatever?

And what lengths of net do you use, and what depth?

Thanks

Tidal_wear

You would be very lucky or very skilled to get a grouse in them,do grouse have defined flight-lines or follow the moors contours?You can get duck in them,I used to net a famous wild-folw refuge in the north-east as the migratory duck came in,another name for them when used for duck or wading birds is flight-nets,polyester is finer than the equivalent in nylon,mine are 9 feet tall and 30 meters long.The lines are set tight on the poles,the loose netting hangs in bags or pockets.

fishy1

I'm not actually sure about the flightlines, one thing I do know is they are frequently killed hitting fences up in the hills in bad weather.

Tidal_wear

A 30 yard net is a pretty small target on a 2000 acre grouse moor

fishy1

Unfortunately true.

Is their any reason a gill net would not work? Would birds break it? They might avoid it in the d ay, but at night I'd imagine they'd get caught nicely. 100mm mesh about right for ducks and pheasants etc, or smaller/larger?

woodmoocher1

willow put me up for a week...lol we'll see how good she is.

Tidal_wear

100 mm mesh is perfect for ducks,when we used to net the wildfowl refuge flightponds we used to add a number of floating mallard decoys around the net during a full-moon,we always got lots of duck,probably because the Wildfowl-refuge used to heavily-feed the flight ponds and also the numbers of migrating wildfowl which used to flight in was huge.
I dont know anywhere in the UK that will supply you with the nets unless you produce paperwork,PM yeeharr,he claims to have several sources,if so your better off buying the nets rather than using Gills,they are cheap enough and highly effective

Tidal_wear

There you are mate,grouse trammel-net 100 yards long,lot less hit-and-miss than 30 yards,but a modern day mist net is less visible than the one pictured which looks to be made of hemp,or one of those heavy-weight natural fibres of yesteryear?

fishy1

Thanks alot everyone. Are all mist nets trammels? If not, would a regular mist net be set with alot more slack than you're picture? And do you need a license to possess a mist net, or just to buy? Do you have to watch a mist net, or can you just set it and wait a few hours like with a gill net?

Thanks

Tidal_wear

Modern mist-nets are not trammels mate,not at all,as for slack they have pockets of mesh which envelop any bird that strikes them,I think the licence is just needed to buy the nets Fishy,as for watching them,I normally do,and I also watch the gills mate,I like to see fish hitting the tops

budharley

try temo tac for catching rats and mice

Tidal_wear

Just had another PM about sourcing mist-nets in UK,care to enlighten them yeeharr,because as I told them,I know no-where in the UK without a licence

your the man with the "source"

fishy1

I pmed yeehar a couple of days ago about the source but have got no reply. :(

Tidal_wear

Drop fish a PM fishy,he is in contact with him

Tidal_wear

Set net Fishy,see the pockets?Against any background the net is virtually invisible

Tidal_wear

DOXHOPE

Catching birds was as big a part of my youth as was catching rabbits, bird nesting, and gaffing kings of the sea from local flooded burns at the back end of the year. EVERYBODY did it.
Yes the traditional bird lime was made with holly bark, but there were also some other methods, crepe rubber melted and linseed oil added, and, when I was a lad, the local chemist would make you up a pot to go catching birds for a penny. What it was made from I dont know, but bdooly hell it was tacky...
I still love to catch birds....But now its with the BTO to ring them. No lime Im affraid, just mist nets.

Tidal_wear

We grew up in the same part of the world Bill,and I have your book,good read,the strange thing is I always preferred the fish to the birds,gaffs are a handy tool