HOW DO RESEARCHERS CATCH A TURKEY ALIVE?
It is important to be able to catch wild turkeys (and other wildlife) alive and unharmed in order to undertake restoration programs, and conduct field research and population surveys. It is ineffective, however, to put salt on their tails! Early settlers and others once captured wild turkeys in pens constructed from poles and rails. Turkeys followed bait trails through an entry maze and could not find their way out. In the 1930’s, biologists used these traps and other large cage-like traps with swinging doors to catch turkeys. These were rather ineffective and cumbersome, especially when used to capture forest-dwelling eastern turkeys which shied away from such structures. Cannon and Rocket Nets:Rocket Net In 1948, Federal biologists developed a mortar-thrown net for the capture of waterfowl. Basically, this device used 3 steel tubes (similar to artillery mortars used by the Army) which could be loaded with an electrically-initiated explosive charge in the base.
It is important to be able to catch wild turkeys (and other wildlife) alive and unharmed in order to undertake restoration programs, and conduct field research and population surveys. It is ineffective, however, to put salt on their tails! Early settlers and others once captured wild turkeys in pens constructed from poles and rails. Turkeys followed bait trails through an entry maze and could not find their way out. In the 1930’s, biologists used these traps and other large cage-like traps with swinging doors to catch turkeys. These were rather ineffective and cumbersome, especially when used to capture forest-dwelling eastern turkeys which shied away from such structures. Cannon and Rocket Nets: In 1948, Federal biologists developed a mortar-thrown net for the capture of waterfowl. Basically, this device used 3 steel tubes (similar to artillery mortars used by the Army) which could be loaded with an electrically-initiated explosive charge in the base. Weights were attached to the net
