Photos of trapping Song Birds in Salzkammergut, Upper Austria

31st October 2005

• more pictures of from October 2005

Taubenkogel: A great tit just got caught in one of the countless traps.

The great tit is desperately struggles to get out of the net.

Taubenkogel: After useless attempts to escape, the exhausted great
tit briefly stays still. She is completely entangled in the net.
The perch at the bottom activated the
mechanism of the trap when she landed on it.

According to both the federal law concerning animal protection
(Bundestierschutzgesetz) and the Upper Austria law concerning the protection of
species (oö Artenschutzverordnung), the trapping of great tits is
prohibited. Obviously the trappers do not care about this.

One trapper puts a stool pigeon live into his backpack.

The birds are carted about like they were just things.

Bad Goisern: A backpack full of living stool pigeons

Stool pigeon in a tiny cage hung in a tree at the Feuerkogel at Ebensee

A bird in his tiny jail. Conspecifics will be lured by his presence, also to be captured and exposed to the same
terrible conditions.

To make trapping easier, an artificial
environment is created. Here is a picture of a strange wooden
construction in Weyregg. A stool pigeon is sitting in each of the 4 tiny cages you
can see.

Manipulated nature: These trees have been furnished with hinges. So the
trapper can put them up or down at any time. This construction
can be found at Kirchham.

Another example of trees with hinges: Here near to Bad Goisern.

Bad Goisern: Almost never ending ladders nailed to trees

Feuerkogel bei Ebensee: Bolts as substitute ladders nailed into the
trees, for trapping purposes.