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- Jul 27, 2007
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- 57
ok i know there is some expert on primitive trapping here. what are some good traps for rabbits or tree rats?
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snares/traps for small game
- Thread starter ThomastaylorIII
- Start date
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- Feb 8, 2004
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- 4,172
I've done a lot of snaring as a hobby...I did trap with my brother when I was younger, but that was many moons ago. I can really recommend http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Buckshots-CD-ROM-Sales.htm.
I usually just use some simple wire snares. It's not necessarily the trap/snare, but the knowledge of where/how to emplace and knowing movement patterns in your AO.
ROCK6
I don't know if our rabbits are the same size as yours, and we don't have squirrels...but I have had success catching rabbits and tree-climbing possums with simple snares.
Wire is often recommended for snares, especially multi-strand aircraft wire cable. Cable has some big advantages, but it is not the only thing that will work for snares. I use braided nylon cord quite often....and get good results.
Modern snares often have locking mechanisms on the eyes. These may offer advantages in some situations, but I have only once used a snare with a lock (and it worked well)...however I've caught dozens of animals with just simple free-running eyes on my snares. I like free-running eyes.... I like to think that if an animal breaks the snare cord and gets away, the open eye will allow the snare to drop off it so it doesn't have to wear it for life.
Here are a couple of USA Forums where some expert trappers hang out. Trapperman is a very busy site with lots of active members. Snaremantalk is less busy, but there is some good knowledge there.
http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/1/page/1
http://snaremantalk.com/phpBB2/index.php
The biggest thing to get for success, I think, is a knowledge of the animals you want to trap. If you know how they hold themselves when they move, what they like to eat, how high their heads are from the ground, where they live, where they sleep, how they act when frightened etc etc etc.....you can figure out how to trap them. It doesn't have to be with a snare.... all sorts of cunning ideas might be used.
Here are some pictures which might spark some ideas for you:
Figure four deadfall for small animals (I have only caught rats and mice with these):
One way of supporting a braided cord snare. The snare is tied or bound to the wire support at the right, and on the left it is held in place by a small 'hook' made of very thin copper wire which will easily straighten out and release the cord when an animal walks through the noose. The 'inverted L' wire is pushed into the ground and the tail end of the snare cord is tied securely to a peg or a tree:
Here's how I might rig a wire cable snare for our tree-climbing possums. You'd want a smaller noose for squirrels...possibly set at a different height. The wire snare has an eye at each end. The tail of the snare gets passed through one eye to create the noose, and the tail end eye has a cord tied to it. This cord is tied to the pole to tether the snare...and the thin wire support is jammed under the cord. The wire support is wrapped around the wire cable snare a few times to hold it in place. Of course, you don't need to use wire for the actual snare...you might like to use cord and support it with an inverted L wire as shown in the earlier picture. This snare can be attached to a horizontal or sloping tree branch, or to a pole propped up against something. You might find it useful to think about adjusting the height of the snare from the pole according to how steep the pole is and how the animal climbs.
Here is a traditional 'peg and tealer' snare for rabbits. The peg is the anchor peg that the snare is tethered to...but you could just tie the snare to a fence wire or a bush. The tealer is the split stick that supports the snare. Nowadays most people would use an all-wire snare, but I have used nylon cord with one thin bit of copper wire wrapped around the cord to make it stiff enough to hold the noose open. These snares are set over the 'beats' on a rabbit path...the places where they seem to most often land and spring from...generally the grass or earth is beaten flat at these points.
The rabbit below was caught with monofilament fishing nylon in conjunction with the traditional peg and tealer. I don't recommend monofilament because it will easily break once chewed by the animal. And it can drive you nuts because of the 'memory' it might have...it often wont hold a very good shape. But it worked this time:
There is no one best snare arrangement for all circumstances. Some of the best results I've had came when I found holes through fences etc that animals regularly used. I simply set the snare over the hole and might catch all sorts of things. If possible, it is best to keep the bottom of the snare well off the ground to help prevent the animal walking right through it, or maybe getting caught around the body...not that this is necessarily a problem...but I think that maybe a neck-snared animal might be less likely to chew at the cord.
Of course traps should be checked regularly...at least once a day, and preferably first thing in the morning of the day after they've been set. I think that is our moral duty. They also have to be set responsibly where non-target animals are unlikely to be caught.
It is also very wise to keep your trapping operation private. I think it is best to keep it out of sight... and not to discuss it widely. No point in upsetting people. And of course it may even be illegal to set certain traps in certain places...so it would be best to be sure of what you are allowed to do before you decide to go out and trap.
If you search through the old posts on this forum for 'arapuca'...you should find a description of a neat little primitive cage trap that might be used for squirrels or birds.... or even rabbits if it were big and heavy enough.
I urge everybody reading this to think about having respect for the animals that we might hunt, and to never cause unnecessary death or suffering.
Happy trapping.... and please tell us about any results that you might have.
Wire is often recommended for snares, especially multi-strand aircraft wire cable. Cable has some big advantages, but it is not the only thing that will work for snares. I use braided nylon cord quite often....and get good results.
Modern snares often have locking mechanisms on the eyes. These may offer advantages in some situations, but I have only once used a snare with a lock (and it worked well)...however I've caught dozens of animals with just simple free-running eyes on my snares. I like free-running eyes.... I like to think that if an animal breaks the snare cord and gets away, the open eye will allow the snare to drop off it so it doesn't have to wear it for life.
Here are a couple of USA Forums where some expert trappers hang out. Trapperman is a very busy site with lots of active members. Snaremantalk is less busy, but there is some good knowledge there.
http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/1/page/1
http://snaremantalk.com/phpBB2/index.php
The biggest thing to get for success, I think, is a knowledge of the animals you want to trap. If you know how they hold themselves when they move, what they like to eat, how high their heads are from the ground, where they live, where they sleep, how they act when frightened etc etc etc.....you can figure out how to trap them. It doesn't have to be with a snare.... all sorts of cunning ideas might be used.
Here are some pictures which might spark some ideas for you:
Figure four deadfall for small animals (I have only caught rats and mice with these):
One way of supporting a braided cord snare. The snare is tied or bound to the wire support at the right, and on the left it is held in place by a small 'hook' made of very thin copper wire which will easily straighten out and release the cord when an animal walks through the noose. The 'inverted L' wire is pushed into the ground and the tail end of the snare cord is tied securely to a peg or a tree:
Here's how I might rig a wire cable snare for our tree-climbing possums. You'd want a smaller noose for squirrels...possibly set at a different height. The wire snare has an eye at each end. The tail of the snare gets passed through one eye to create the noose, and the tail end eye has a cord tied to it. This cord is tied to the pole to tether the snare...and the thin wire support is jammed under the cord. The wire support is wrapped around the wire cable snare a few times to hold it in place. Of course, you don't need to use wire for the actual snare...you might like to use cord and support it with an inverted L wire as shown in the earlier picture. This snare can be attached to a horizontal or sloping tree branch, or to a pole propped up against something. You might find it useful to think about adjusting the height of the snare from the pole according to how steep the pole is and how the animal climbs.
Here is a traditional 'peg and tealer' snare for rabbits. The peg is the anchor peg that the snare is tethered to...but you could just tie the snare to a fence wire or a bush. The tealer is the split stick that supports the snare. Nowadays most people would use an all-wire snare, but I have used nylon cord with one thin bit of copper wire wrapped around the cord to make it stiff enough to hold the noose open. These snares are set over the 'beats' on a rabbit path...the places where they seem to most often land and spring from...generally the grass or earth is beaten flat at these points.
The rabbit below was caught with monofilament fishing nylon in conjunction with the traditional peg and tealer. I don't recommend monofilament because it will easily break once chewed by the animal. And it can drive you nuts because of the 'memory' it might have...it often wont hold a very good shape. But it worked this time:
There is no one best snare arrangement for all circumstances. Some of the best results I've had came when I found holes through fences etc that animals regularly used. I simply set the snare over the hole and might catch all sorts of things. If possible, it is best to keep the bottom of the snare well off the ground to help prevent the animal walking right through it, or maybe getting caught around the body...not that this is necessarily a problem...but I think that maybe a neck-snared animal might be less likely to chew at the cord.
Of course traps should be checked regularly...at least once a day, and preferably first thing in the morning of the day after they've been set. I think that is our moral duty. They also have to be set responsibly where non-target animals are unlikely to be caught.
It is also very wise to keep your trapping operation private. I think it is best to keep it out of sight... and not to discuss it widely. No point in upsetting people. And of course it may even be illegal to set certain traps in certain places...so it would be best to be sure of what you are allowed to do before you decide to go out and trap.
If you search through the old posts on this forum for 'arapuca'...you should find a description of a neat little primitive cage trap that might be used for squirrels or birds.... or even rabbits if it were big and heavy enough.
I urge everybody reading this to think about having respect for the animals that we might hunt, and to never cause unnecessary death or suffering.
Happy trapping.... and please tell us about any results that you might have.
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2005
- Messages
- 1,376
check out The snare shop.com, they have lots of small game snares & books on trapping. you can use a Rat trap(not mouse) to catch squirrels, A #110 bodytrap(connibear) only weighs a few ounces & will get any small game from squirrel to raccoon!
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 1,072
Great stuff Coote! I've used a few of those, but I really like that nylon snare stand. I'll have to give it a try this year...
My grandfather taught me how to snare showshoe rabbits up in MN when I was a kid. we used braided "picture hanging" wire. It really grabbed on to the fur and held tight. We'd find a rabbit trail, set brush and twigs to form a funnel to force the rabbit to go through the snare on the trail. For squirrels, we'd use something like your possum setup on a heavy stick leaned against a "squirrel tree".
Keep in mind that most states have seasons for trapping and may require a license. Also, don't trap during breeding or rearing seasons. (at least when you're practicing!) If you're lost in the woods and hungry, anything goes!
J-
My grandfather taught me how to snare showshoe rabbits up in MN when I was a kid. we used braided "picture hanging" wire. It really grabbed on to the fur and held tight. We'd find a rabbit trail, set brush and twigs to form a funnel to force the rabbit to go through the snare on the trail. For squirrels, we'd use something like your possum setup on a heavy stick leaned against a "squirrel tree".
Keep in mind that most states have seasons for trapping and may require a license. Also, don't trap during breeding or rearing seasons. (at least when you're practicing!) If you're lost in the woods and hungry, anything goes!
J-
Tim suggested that above...
I'll have to check them out now that two ppl are suggesting them!
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- May 27, 2006
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First off I am a big fan of conibears also.:thumbup:
Snares can be used over and over depending on what they are made of, animals typically twist and thrash when caught sometimes kinking cable, nylon snares will not kink though. I snared a lot of big lizards with the same piece of 550 cord. Chris
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RB,
Did you eat those lizards?? if so how'd you prep 'em??? Any good?
Did you eat those lizards?? if so how'd you prep 'em??? Any good?
The Snare shop closed it's doors a few months back.
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RR,
No I didn't eat any of them we wanted to but where I was there was nothing to burn besides dried camel crap and JP8 and I didn't want to eat anything cooked on either. I have since discovered the trangia mini and those same lizards would be in trouble, especially if they taste like chicken. They lived in borrows and weighed at least 2 or 3 pounds, they had jaws like a vice and a spiked tail they used for a weapon, they were dead easy to snare. Chris
Here is a little one and then one full grown and ready to fight.
No I didn't eat any of them we wanted to but where I was there was nothing to burn besides dried camel crap and JP8 and I didn't want to eat anything cooked on either. I have since discovered the trangia mini and those same lizards would be in trouble, especially if they taste like chicken. They lived in borrows and weighed at least 2 or 3 pounds, they had jaws like a vice and a spiked tail they used for a weapon, they were dead easy to snare. Chris
Here is a little one and then one full grown and ready to fight.
You should find a copy of the book written by Ragnar Benson maybe 10 to 20 years ago titled Ten Best Traps and a Few Others That Are Damn Good, or some words to that effect. Try Amazon and/or a search on Google. Ron Hood's video tape (Hood's Woods) on trapping shows some useful traps and snares, and you can buy snares etc. ready made at the website for Buckshot's Camp. Be careful of the legal issues involved in snaring and trapping, though. If you kill it, you eat it, too!
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2007
- Messages
- 57
In the past i trapped fish ponds for otters for extra money, i use conibears mostly and tipically get 15-20 otters a season. i am mainly looking for traps that i could make in a survival situatuin, Ex. figure 4 and snares. coote had exctly what i was looking for.
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- Jun 9, 2005
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ToddW, www.snareshop.com & also www.pdksnares.com