One of the most useful as well as the most ancient inventions in the way of traps is the common Figure Four Trap, which forms the subject of our next illustration. It is a very ingenious contrivance, and the mechanism, consists merely of three sticks. It possesses great advantages in the fact that it may be used in a variety of ways, and a number of the machines may be carried by the young trapper with very little inconvenience. Our illustration shows the trap already set, only awaiting for a slight touch at the bait to bring the heavy stone to the ground. A box may be substituted for the stone, and the animal may thus be captured alive. The three sticks are represented separate at a. b. and c. Of course, there is no regular size for them, as this would greatly depend upon the purpose for which they are designed to be used. If for rabbits, the following proportions will answer very well. The sticks should all be square, and about half an inch in thickness. The bait-stick, (a) should be about nine or ten inches in length, one end being pointed and the other furnished with a notch, as indicated. The upright stick, (b) should be a little shorter, one end being whittled to a rather sharp edge. At about three or four inches from the other end, and on the side next to that whittled, a square notch should be cut. This should be about a third of an inch in depth and half an inch in width, being so cut as exactly to receive the bait-stick without holding it fast. The remaining stick (c) should have a length of about seven or eight inches, one end being whittled, as in the last, to an edge, and the other end furnished with a notch on the same side of the stick.
When these are finished, the trap may be set in the following manner: Place the upright stick, (b) with its pointed end uppermost. Rest the notch of the slanting stick, (c) on the summit of the upright stick, placing the stone upon its end, and holding the stick in position with the hand. By now hooking the notch in the bait-stick on the sharpened edge of the slanting stick and fitting it into the square notch in the upright, it may easily be made to catch and hold itself in position. The bait should always project beneath the stone. In case a box is used instead of a stone, the trap may be set either inside of it or beneath its edge. Where the ground is very soft, it would be well to rest the upright stick on a chip or small flat stone, as otherwise it is apt to sink into the earth by degrees and spring by itself.
When properly made, it is a very sure and sensitive trap, and the bait, generally an apple, or "nub" of corn is seldom more than touched when the stone falls.
Jacked from the Net...
easy example to understand :thumbup:
