Hi Danielle -- I am a raptor trapper, not a gull man, so my advice comes from the world of raptor banding and research. First, I think cannon nets would probably be a great way to trap large numbers of gulls, particularly if you could attract them to a trapping area that was baited with fish carcasses or something to attract the gulls to a specific feeding area. One of my friends used to buy salmon carcasses from processors who had fileted the fish, and he used them to make stews, but I bet the same carcasses would be great for attracting gulls to trap sites.
There are many references for gull trapping in the book "Bird Trapping and Bird Banding: A Handbook for Trapping Methods All Over the World", by Hans Bub, originally published in 1978 by Cornell University Press. A lot of the methods for gull trapping described in this book originated in Europe. One brief story of cannon netting with fish as bait comes from Mike McGrady, an eagle biologist who once told me he trapped around 30 Stellar's Sea Eagles simultaneously on an ice floe off of Japan. Thirty Stellar's Sea Eagles is like 1000 gulls :) A marking method you might want to consider (if temporary marking is adequate for your purposes) has been used by peregrine falcon trappers on the Texas coast, where the trappers did not want to retrap peregrines that were already banded and needed to be able to identify them so as not to waste trapping effort on them. The trappers marked the peregrines with picric acid, which is not harmful to the birds, but which dies/stains the feathers to make them conspicuous. I am not sure how long the marking last, but it may last until the following molt. I suspect you could look up Tom Maechtle, a peregrine falcon biologist living in Wyoming, for more information on this technique, and I believe it is listed in the Bird Banding Lab's list of marking techniques for birds. Good luck with your project! Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Danielle Le Fer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: Danielle Le Fer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [email protected] >Subject: gull trapping and tagging >Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:15:24 -0700 >Received: from listserv.umd.edu ([128.8.10.60]) by >bay0-mc12-f18.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2668); Tue, >12 Jun 2007 13:29:54 -0700 >Received: from listserv.umd.edu (IDENT:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >[128.8.10.60])by listserv.umd.edu (8.12.11.20060308/8.12.11) with ESMTP id >l5C9RHoh019931;Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:29:53 -0400 (EDT) >X-Message-Info: >oG9qAjD2BNGUY1fN5fS2DSMPTnwHOLzK2ej6fxhbMV8zjrLORbNhAADh5c7l9bbv >Precedence: list >List-Help: <http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?LIST=ECOLOG-L>, ><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ECOLOG-L> >List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Owner: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Archive: <http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?LIST=ECOLOG-L> >Return-Path: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-OriginalArrivalTime: 12 Jun 2007 20:29:54.0949 (UTC) >FILETIME=[6FD31B50:01C7AD30] > >Greetings, >We are interested in individually marking a large number of gulls (1000?), >and I am brainstorming trapping techniques (we would be trapping at a >colony >and/or a landfill) and the best way to color mark them so that they can be >easily seen from a distance. We are considering pitagial tags, but there >might be other options out there. >Thanks! >Danielle > >Danielle Le Fer, Ph.D. >Waterbird Program Director >San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory >524 Valley Way >Milpitas, CA 95035 >408-946-6548 X16 _________________________________________________________________ Need a break? Find your escape route with Live Search Maps. http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?ss=Restaurants~Hotels~Amusement%20Park&cp=33.832922~-117.915659&style=r&lvl=13&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=1118863&encType=1&FORM=MGAC01
