DAVID McGregor is not afraid of getting his hands dirty to protect native fauna around his home at Boorolite near Mansfield in Victoria.
Blue wrens twittering and wagtails wagging are what he wants to see in his garden, not messy feral sparrows invading the natives' territory.
- Click on the links to the right for the sparrow trap plans
And to help protect the "real locals", the 86-year-old has put a modern twist on an old idea, modifying a sparrow trap design that featured in The Weekly Times Farmers' Handbook, printed in 1978.
He and his animal scientist son, Bruce, who worked for many years with the Department of Primary Industries, have redesigned the feral bird trap, and even written a research paper, printed in The Victorian Naturalist on how to use it humanely and effectively.
According to Bruce, "the experts" at the Department of Sustainability and Environment did not believe that the trap design was any good.
But the McGregors' research seems to prove the trap can effectively eradicate the pest. While the proportions they have used are the same as the original model in the handbook, David said making it smaller made it easier to handle.
Once the birds are trapped they are taken out and drowned in a bucket of water, which takes only seconds for such small birds, he said.
Now was the time country people should be working to eradicate the pests, David said.
House sparrows are native to northern Africa. Here they destroy crops and home gardens, compete with native birds and spread disease.
"More people will be relying on tanks for household water and because sparrows must live near a water supply they will come in (around) homes as creeks and dams dry out," he said.
This article was originally published on January 23, 2009.
