hand made traps

[JR Yipp 111]

a gypsy market in portugal, i tried but didnt have the lingo to find anything out really, i think he was saying they were for small birds.

 

[JR Yipp 111]

[Steve Albano 21]

Interesting pictures, the traps on the right of the first picture are known here as "Italian bird traps", I think. Was he making the traps there, or just selling them?

[john b 38]

Fascinating to see them on sale like that - obviously still a real part of the way of life there. Not legal in the UK though as you might imagine.

 

I know them as French bird traps but I think they are common all over mainland Europe as bird and mouse traps. The base of the trap has a long, narrow loop that extends outwards and has a retaining arm attached to the end of it. The two semicircular jaws are sprung so that when the top one is bent back into the set position the retaining arms folds over and fits into a small loop on the trigger.

 

Bait can be attached to the trigger so that a sharp tug will release the retainer and the top jaw snaps closed.