What has Denmark ever done for us? A country that has given the world, wind turbines, standardised shipping containers, and Lego has also given us the bird-capturing Larsen trap.
Invented in the 1950s by a Danish gamekeeper, the Larsen trap is used to capture alive, members of the Corvidae family which includes magpies, rooks, etc., as a ‘pest control measure’ by gun club members, gamekeepers and anti-wildlife landowners.
The Larsen trap comes in many forms but its profile is based on a wire mesh square or a circular structure.
It works by using a call-bird, a previously-caught magpie or crow, which is kept alive in the special decoy compartment of the trap.
Uncaught territory holders think a single call-bird is an intruder and will try to drive it away. They fly down on to the trap, fall through a collapsing floor and find themselves trapped too.
Captured birds, before being killed, face the stress and fear of cage confinement.
Suffering with Larsen trap?
Some captured birds will suffer thirst, hunger and starvation while others will sustain broken beaks and head wounds from futile attempts to smash their way to freedom.
In Ireland, legal cover is given to the use of the Larsen trap subject to compliance with the Wildlife Acts (Approved Traps, Snares and Nets) Regulations 2003, and Section 35(5) of the Wildlife Acts.
I believe that given the secretive nature of pest control activity, it is impossible to know if the usage of such a trap meets the legal requirements of bird welfare.
In addition, Larsen traps are indiscriminate and often capture non-target species such as cats, birds of prey and foxes.
The Larsen trap has been banned in many countries including Denmark.
In Ireland, a recent appeal has been made the heritage minister, Malcolm Noonan, to ban the Larsen trap as it has no role in bird conservation and only acts as a mechanism for those with a detestation of Corvidae family members to give vent to their rage.
In a slogan rewording of another famous Dutch export, we can say with authority; the Larsen trap is probably the cruellest bird trap in the world.
From John Tierney, Association of Hunt Saboteurs.