Some readers have reported instances of captured pigeons squeezing their way back out through bob wire doors. This seems to be particularly the case with slim younger birds or feral racing pigeons that are familiar with loft structures.
Over the last couple of years we have had a lot of success eliminating this in our own traps by making two simple changes to the basic design:
- The first change is to cut the bob wires down to 7″ or 9″ in length. This is fairly easy to do with a pair of heavy duty wire cutters or a hacksaw. The metal is soft and cuts easily. These shorter bob wires remove some of the flexibility, but be sure to adjust the height of the frame to cater for the new length.
- The second improvement is to cut slots in the foot rail to correspond with the bottom of the bob wires. This means that when they are pushed outwards, the bob wires are effectively pinned at the bottom and not just at the top, but are still free to swing inwards.
The new ‘improved’ bob wire door has shorter bob wires for improved rigidity and ‘holding grooves’ to prevent the bob wires being pushed outwards.
