Best mist-net poles ever (1 Viewer)

Where I'm at they have been doing a study in the same place for 9 years. There is re-bar hidden in the bush that the metal poles are set up on. The poles are only carried in the first thing in May and carried out at the end of August - 12 nets are set up. I can see if it was a very mobile study the need for lighter poles. This last time there was a huge hole in one the nets... they believe a deer when through it. If it would have been on a lighter set up everything would have been gone and the poor deer would have been trapped in the whole set up somewhere. As it was, he successfully tore through, but ruined the net... at least he wasn't tangled somewhere in the bush.

Banding in the rain forest has to be fascinating!

I see this thread is attracting a lot of interest.

I have used domestic"painting poles" for a number of years. These extend just enough to allow a standard four-shelf net to be set, about 2 m 80. Some on sale are shorter than this and would not be suitable for full-height netting

Most recently I found some in a hardware store in Greece for 4.50 Euros each but hadn't sufficient space in the car to buy the entire stock! I have not been able to find comparable poles in France at anything like this price.

They perform well and are more convenient than two section poles for setting the net. The sole problem was rain entering the internal parts, which had to be 'sorted' eventually by using WD40.

I have also 'rescued' a couple of old extendable fishing poles from a rubbish skip, but have yet to trial them. As they go to 5 m+ it may be a good way to get a net into the tree canopy - not in rain forest, of course!

When I first got my ringing permit I purchased some telescope fishing landing poles at 3.3m long. They only just take a 40foot net though. I now use aluminium sectional poles from the BTO that are great. I still think that bamboo poles are best when using 60foot nets especially if you have a long line of nets.

I agree that bamboo is the best to use for strength and weight. This is fine when you have a regular ringing site where you can leave them in place, but the difficulty comes when you have to transport them. Four metre long poles are very difficult to transport by car and even harder to take for field work in remote areas. I have used the poles made from sections of aluminium, though I'm not sure if they are the ones sold by the BTO mentioned earlier. The ones we used were each about 60cm long, which meant that they packed up fairly small. The problems were that they were quite heavy, the pieces were too short to use effectively in reed beds (where we mainly used them) because the bottom section would keep getting lost in the mud and they would also tend to come apart when raising the net. I have often used halved bamboo with a connector. The difficulty here is in finding a way to join them together. You can use something that goes inside the bamboo to connect them together, but the bamboo will split no matter how much you try and tape things around it. It works, but you can't add much tension to the net. My trainer had found some metal tubes that fitted neatly around the outside of the bamboo and this made a solid join that did not split. The difficulty is in finding the right size metal tube for different sizes of bamboo pole. The poles I mentioned at the start of the thread are very useful, but their big limitation is cost (I keep meaning to get some photos to post and I will do it soon, I promise). I've still never used the fishing poles mentione by Hannu. he sent me some details and they look really good. I amagine that they would be very lightweight, fold up pretty small and also offer a longer extension.

Tom

tomjenner said:

My trainer had found some metal tubes that fitted neatly around the outside of the bamboo and this made a solid join that did not split. The difficulty is in finding the right size metal tube for different sizes of bamboo pole.

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Use a standardised size of wooden dowelling. At least 3/4" is needed, up to broom handle thickness if you want to get the net up several metre high.

The problem that I have found with using an insert like dowelling is that it fits inside the bamboo and therefore is very weak because it causes the bamboo to split. A tube that fits around the outside of the bamboo is much stronger, but harder to find.

Tom

tomjenner said:

The problem that I have found with using an insert like dowelling is that it fits inside the bamboo and therefore is very weak because it causes the bamboo to split. A tube that fits around the outside of the bamboo is much stronger, but harder to find.

Click to expand...

I see I wasn't explicit enough. What I meant to say was: use dowelling poles instead of bamboo poles. Then the problem of ferrulling these is simply one of locating metal tubing of the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of the dowelling. I've used 3/4" X 1m80 poles in tandem, joined with copper water-piping ferrules, for the last 45 years. Some of them are that age!!!

Where to buy a mist net Caribbean/USA

Dear All,
I am located in the Caribbean, with my employer in the US, so a US source probably will be best; and secondly, what should I expect to pay for a net?

I am aware that I probably better present the project I need this for: I want to do a molecular genetic study on bird taxonomy, I have obtained some funding, and the first phase will be to get samples on the island I live on. I am currently working with the Forestry department in the local government to get the necessary permits. There is at least one person in the department who is willing to help with the project and who has experience with banding birds, but unofficially, I have been told that the nets they have in the department are beyond their last leg.

thanks
Niels

Edit, sorry for putting this here, I meant to make a new thread ???

Hi Niels
Try here (http://www.afonet.org/english/mistnets.html). I believe that you will need to provide information about banding licences etc to buy mist-nets.
Good luck with the project, but before that have a great time in Panama.

Tom

Thanks Tom,
I am completely with you and with the providers in that of course I will have to hold the necessary permits before I can order this type of equipment.

thanks again
Niels