After mentioning the MCF Swordfish spod's foolproof release system I had a go at modifying a cheap spod to use the same mechanism. It looks a bit crude, but it works! A bit of bent wire, some braid, a swivel, a bead, a screw eye in the nose and I'm in business. Now I can make any spod I like retrieve effortlessly.
The 'highlight' of the session was trying to catch a Trent hamster in my landing net. No. I wasn't running around after it like a demented butterfly collector. The animal was running over the net laid on the ground. The plan was to lift the net and trap it - then stamp on its head. Ha! Rats have sharper reflexes than Lumbs. As time wore on it gained in confidence, making brief scurries under the rods to pick up spilt particles and even running under my chair at one point. Plan B was to stone it using a catapult. To my amazement this almost worked and I twice missed it by a whisker. I'm sure I heard the stone brush fur on the second attempt! The creature certainly didn't reappear after that.
Watching a male chaffinch eating and collecting particles from under the rods was more relaxing. It did seem to be picking the hemp seeds for preference and leaving the other seeds for last. Perhaps it's the oil in the hemp that appeals to birds as it does to fish?
