Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Carrying Handle and Restraints

The Carrying Handle of the homemade bird trap allows you to conveniently carry and move the cage with just one hand. Even though lightweight, the bird trap housing is a bit bulky to hold with both hands without the carrying handle.

As the homemade bird trap weighs only about 1/4 of a kilo, the carrying handle too is light and thin. It can hold up the cage even with five trapped sparrows inside.

The carrying handle easily swings to either side. Because it is thin, you can lay it flat on the top panel and stack another homemade bird trap on top of it. This feature comes in handy when you have several traps and need to store them.

The restraints are made of the same material as the carrying handle. They're optional and are only required if there is a need to keep the cage immobilized. Since the cage is light, there is a possibility that strong winds may blow away the landing board and the board can topple the cage. The restraints anchor the cage down.

Another possibility is when the bird trap has caught several birds and the trapped birds become distressed. Some birds would attempt to fly and struggle while hitting the side panels of the trap. With the constant movement inside with birds banging on the panels, the bird trap may be displaced from its original position.


How to Make and Install the Carrying Handle

The concept for making the carrying handle is not too far from that of the handle of an ordinary briefcase as shown below.


Just like the briefcase handle, the carrying handle should be able to swing to either side and able to lay flat on the top panel. Also, the handle should be low-profile and thin.




Materials

(see the Materials and Tools page)

Procedure

  1. With a cutter or razor, splice off 1/2" insulation from both ends of the 8" long solid strand wire.

  2. Using a pair of long-nose pliers, form a "U" on the spliced and exposed solid strand wire.

  3. Hook the "U" part of the solid strand and loop it around the screen wire of the top panel as shown below.


  4. Do the same with the other end of the carrying handle.




  5. Ensure the carrying handle is positioned roughly in the middle of the homemade bird trap.




How to Make and Attach the Restraints

The restraints are simply devices that attach the homemade bird trap to fixed objects. This way, the homemade bird trap is anchored and remains immobile. Restraints are optional accessories and are not part of the bird trap.

  1. Bend two pieces of 8" long solid-strand wire on both ends as shown below.


  2. For each restraint, hook one end to the homemade bird trap and then hook and coil the other end to a fixed object as anchor.



The following photo shows the carrying handle installed and the restraints attached on the homemade bird trap. Notice the two trapped Yellow-Vented Bulbul birds (Pycnonotus goiavier) inside the trap.


In summary, here's a video clip of the steps:


Other articles in this series (click on the links below:)

Homemade Bird Trap - Build Plans & How it Works
Homemade Bird Trap - Materials and Tools
Homemade Bird Trap - Building the Housing
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Funnels
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Guard Rails
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Access Hole
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Door and Lock
Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Carrying Handle and Restraints (this article)
Homemade Bird Trap - Setting the Trap
Homemade Bird Trap - Painting the Cage
Homemade Bird Trap - Making a Perch for the Cage
Homemade Bird Trap - Pre-Baiting Sparrows
Homemade Bird Trap - Retrieving Trapped Birds
Homemade Bird Trap - Disposing Trapped Sparrows
Sparrow Trap by Day, Rat Trap by Night
Damage Caused by Sparrows




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