Snares according to Coote

[coote]

Part one.

MORAL OBLIGATION
I have been reluctant to say too much about snares in the past. I have been concerned that some irresponsible person might have a burst of enthusiasm about snaring after reading what I say, and then set some snares in an innappropriate place….or set them and forget about checking them. For that reason, when I wrote and self-published a book on primitive technology, I only made a small mention of snares when I would have liked to have devoted a chapter to the subject.

So I have to start off by saying that there is a significant moral obligation that we have when we set a snare… and that is to take care in every aspect. I know a lot of readers would already trap with respect and consideration, but I feel I need to spell a few things out. Here is a list of things that should be considered in regard to trapping:
- Local laws
- Permission from landowner
- Any trap should be checked frequently, and certainly not less than once in 24 hours
- People, pets and livestock that might wander into the area.
- Will the trapped animal be exposed to extremely bad weather conditions
- Is this the most humane method I can use in the circumstances
- Am I capable of killing a trapped animal in a quick and humane manner
- Do I have a safe plan to release a non-target species.

One thing that I pay special regard to, is to keep my operation as quiet and invisible as possible. There are dozens of people around who have never harvested their own meat and who would love to see hunting banned. Many would also like to see guns and traps outlawed (as they are in some places). So I always try to set my snares off the beaten track if possible…I do not wish to add any more fuel to the fire.

Although I have caught quite a few animals in primitive snares, I am not the snaring guru…especially when it comes to animals I have never seen. Somebody that traps in your area would be a good source of knowledge. But like they say, there is no teaching…just learning. If you simply have the desire to achieve and just start with an open, questioning mind you can accomplish great things.

GET TO KNOW THE SURROUNDINGS AND THE ANIMAL
Keep your eyes open for sign…droppings, tracks, and pathways. What has made that path that has been almost swept clear of leaves? What dumped that turd there? What does the animal (or bird) eat…at what times of the year? How high does it hold it’s head when it walks? Is the head in a different position when it runs or climbs? When it comes to an obstacle like a branch, does it prefer to go over or under?

REGULAR HABITS AND TRAVEL ROUTES
This is probably the biggest downfall for an animal. I have been amazed to learn how rabbits, for instance, will often stick to the same, almost invisible, trail across pastureland. People place snares out in an open paddock and catch rabbits (see the snares and trapping forum of Thehuntinglife.com). Sometimes a trail across short grass may be more apparent in the early morning when there is a bit of dew around. Sometimes you may discover a place where animals regularly crawl under a fence…this is a great place for a snare.

MAN SCENT
We evidently leave human smell when we move around. So when we’ve set a snare we have probably left a good dose of “predator” human smell on the snare and in the area. Some folks advise us to wear gloves and maybe to even stand on a special bit of sacking when making a set. Some animals may worry more about this scent than others. The possums I hunt don’t seem to care about man scent… they might come into your camp and pinch your tucker anyway. If you are trapping near a farm where the wild animals have become used to human sounds and smells, you may find that these animals are less spooked by your scent than the same species might be further away in the wilderness. So if you can’t keep your smell off your sets, and if you can’t mask it with a strong natural smell (rubbing pine needles on the snare etc), then time can take care of the problem. If you are prepared to leave the snares set and check them every day from a distance, the smell should gradually dissipate. Avoid getting too close to the snares when checking them…in some cases you could use binoculars.

BAITS AND LURES
We’ve had another thread on this. You have to figure out what will appeal to animals in your area. Peanut butter seems to be a universal favourite… and oil of aniseed and oil of rhodium seem to get a regular mention (what the heck IS oil of rhodium and where can I get it???). Aniseed is good stuff for possums in NZ but other things will work too. No bait is necessary for a snare that has been set on a pathway regularly used by the animal.

To be continued.... I tried posting this in one big post and was told it was too long....

 

[coote]

Part two.

SNARES SET ON THE GROUND
Look for places where the animal regularly travels. Sometimes a trail will become narrow and it may be bordered by bushes or rocks….this is a great place for a snare….although the presence of trees means that there is something for the animal to go round and round and tangle and strangle itself on…..although this doesn’t always happen. You could make a barrier with only one or two openings to set your snares over. Sometimes you could prop a few sticks and stones on a pathway to make it narrower…but try to keep things looking natural. Try to break up the outline of the snare by having brush or grass hanging in front of it. It is my belief that an animal may enter a poorly disguised snare more readily when being chased, so maybe you can take advantage of this.

THE POLE SNARE
These are simple snares that are set on sloping branches or poles propped against something. They are used to catch tree-climbing animals. I feel that you get a better catch rate sometimes if you can set your snare on the ground, but a pole snare helps ensure that only target animals are caught. On the ground you can’t be so selective and it is possible to catch large animals by the foot in a small snare set for possums for instance. Generally a pole snare has to be baited to induce the animal to climb the pole. Sometimes it may be appropriate to wipe lure up the whole pole, other times it may be better to put a bit of lure at the base of the pole, and a big dab of some sort of lure or bait on the top side of the snare….you have to consider the behaviour of the animal and how it holds its head. The trouble with pole snares (compared to ground snares set amongst bushes for instance) is that they are hard to disguise. This may not matter in some cases, but on a clear branch or pole they stick out like dogs’nuts.

I generally prefer my animals to be alive when I check the snare the next morning. To help ensure that they don’t entangle themselves and strangle, I prefer to use a clear pole with no branches. I also allow enough tethering cord to allow the animals to sit on the ground.. No matter what I do, the occasional one seems intent on suicide and will wind itself around anything it can find until it garrottes itself. But many animals seem to be quite peaceful when I arrive.

Supporting a snare in the open position is the big challenge in pole snaring. One way of creating a support is to get two fairly thin shoots of wood maybe two feet long. These get tied together at one end (I use a strip of NZ flax leaf for this). The sticks are then moved apart to form a “V”. This V is then passed up under the pole and lashed in place so it sits there with the uprights going up one on each side of the pole. The snare is then loosely suspended from this vee, with the end of the snare firmly tied to the pole itself. If an animal gets entangled around the vee, the shoots should be weak enough to snap off. With nice, weak shoots the snare can be hung from splits or notches in the V sticks. Or you can tie the noose into position with easily breakable bits of thread or leaf etc.

I am currently using thin wire to support my nylon cord possum pole snares. I have attached a photo using some extra large white rope and some thick wire to demonstrate how it is done, but in practice the cord is only about one-eighth of an inch in diameter and the wire is maybe only 0.028” thick. The wire has to be just stiff enough to hold the noose up and not jiggle about too much in the wind….yet it has to be thin enough to easily bend and release the snare when an animal walks through it.

The wire I use is about 20 inches long. To set the snare I tie the tail end of the cord around the pole. I then double back an inch or so of wire on one end and jam it under the cord on the pole… then pull the cord tight to hold the wire secure. I then bend the wire up to form an inverted “L” with the vertical portion being about eight inches high, and the horizontal bit being about four inches long. (In practice the vertical bit is generally bent out sideways a bit like a “C”to keep it away from the pole to make the path look clearer for the animal).

I then pull the cord throught the eye to form a snare of the desired diameter… say 3.5 inches in this case. Just outside the noose, I tie a simple slip knot in the snare cord (see picture). This slip not is then passed over the wire in such a way that when the slip knot gets pulled undone, there will not be a loop of cord caught around the wire. This knot is then tightened on the wire when in the right position. It offers some resistance as the animal enters the snare, thus allowing the snare to pull tight. As the animal pulls harder, it comes undone. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t have the slipknot to fasten the cord to the wire, but I currently think that it helps….and it stops the noose slipping further down the wire.

The eye of the noose is passed over the wire, and about three or four turns are made with the upper part of the noose around the wire. The noose is then tidied up, and the wire is bent around until the optimum “set” is made. So with these snares, the noose hangs from a bit of wire above the pole (see picture). I think it is best to have your slipknot tightened on the horizontal bit of the wire. If it were on the vertical portion, the eye could slip down on to the vertical portion as well, and thus it would not slide as easily when an animal entered the snare…the whole wire would have to bend over before the eye could slide along the wire.

This is just how I have been setting my pole snares lately. I may find a better method, and there will be people around who do something completely different with outstanding success. There is seldom just one right way of solving a problem like this.

SNARE SIZE AND HEIGHT
This is governed, to some extent, by the size and habits of the animal. For a medium sized pig I might make a 12 inch noose and set it about 8 inches off the ground. For possum ground snares I might make a six inch noose and set it four inches off the ground…although if I were setting a possum pole snare it would be maybe four inches in diameter and three inches above the pole (although I am not convinced yet that this is the ideal set). In some cases if you make your snare too big, an animal may climb right through it and not get caught, or maybe just get caught by a back leg if you are lucky. So if you can, set plenty of snares set along the trail, some high, some low, some big – some small. When you have had some success you will start to figure out what works best.

Continued on next post......

 

[coote]

Part three... the final part for now.


SUPPORTING THE SNARE TO HOLD IT OPEN
Wire snares offer the advantage of being largely self suppporting. Cord snares take a bit more time and creativity to set. They can be tied with easily broken fine thread, or supported in split twigs, or maybe even just draped over leafy bushes. As described elsewhere, I sometimes use fine wire to support my pole snares set for possums.

ANCHORING THE SNARE
I like to tie my snares to a sturdy tree (or fence post), although they can be tied to a stake driven into the ground…or even to a “drag” - a log that is laying on the ground. I am inclined to think that it is a good idea to tie the snares high on a tree, so that when an animal starts to pull, it loses a bit of traction (the rope from the tree tends to lift the animal a bit). If you tie to a springy tree, this can take some of the shock out of the system when the animal fights the rope, thus helping to minimize damage to the animal and the snare. Consider how much rope an animal will have to travel on when snared….will it have enough to jump over a bank or climb a tree? Will it have enough to be able to rush at you and slice your leg open with its tusks?

SNARE MATERIALS
Wire cable is probably the ultimate snare material if it is soley “results” that you are after. It is strong, and because it is relatively stiff it holds its shape well and is quick to set. Ordinary single strand wire can also be used… either by itself, or by twisting several strands together to make your own cable (The British do this very well for catching rabbits…see Thehuntinglife.com).

All sorts of fibre will make a snare of sorts. Horsehair has been used for birds and small animals. Rawhide and plant fibres are others that will work.

I like synthetic cord. It feels more natural and less cruel than wire. It is re-usable and easy to work with. Some varieties are reasonably elastic and thus take some of the shock when an animal struggles. And it is very strong.

One material that is useful is polypropylene packaging banding. It is a plastic strap that is used to tie up boxes and bundles and can be found in dumpsters everywhere. I like the heavy black stuff. I have split it into strips about three-sixteenths of an inch wide and have successfully used it. I like it because I can get it for free, and because it is stiff enough to hold itself open in a nice noose shape. I have tied a simple noose eye into one end, and I have used it with a polythene pipe eye (see below) to get a nice, quiet, smoothly-running snare.

For a simple ground snare it is wise to take the advice that the breaking strain of a snare should be at least five times the weight of an animal because a struggling animal can place a lot more force on a snare than simply hanging its full body weight on it. If you have only relatively weak cord, or if you are concerned that the animal may chew through your snare, then perhaps you should make a spring-up snare which will keep a significant strain on the cord to keep it out of the animal’s reach, and to stop the animal getting traction on the ground.

THE EYE OF THE SNARE
A snare noose is made by passing the tail of the rope (or wire) through an eye formed on the other end. This eye can be formed by a simple overhand knot, or it can be some sort of elaborate ferrule made of metal, plastic or bone etc. I have caught dozens of possums in nylon cord snares using just a simple loop formed by doubling the end of the cord back on itself and tying a simple overhand knot. I have spliced eyes into some three-stranded rope.

I have also experimented with making eyes from low density polythene pipe (used for water supply). I cut suitable lengths and drop them in a pot of boiling water. After a short time I will pull one out with pliers and quickly tie a clove hitch around the the outside of the pipe… without wasting any time I pull the clove hitch really tight … and this squashes the pipe in to form a waist that you can tie your rope around. I then cool the pipe in cold water and remove the clove hitch… sometimes by cutting it. This pipe makes a nice smooth-running eye that will endure a bit of abrasion. With laid rope, the bumpy strands can make it hard to pull through any eye. I found that I had to keep my polythene pipe “eyes” longer for laid rope to stop the rope catching on the edges of the end of the pipe (see photo).

The above photo shows the black superfilm rope that I used to catch two pigs. On the first occasion the snare eye was just a simple tied loop. The second time I used a pipe ferrule as shown. The small snare pictured is made from polypropylene packaging strap as described elsewhere.

Some folks advocate having eyes that lock on the snare, stopping it from undoing…and maybe even allowing the snare to go so tight that it will strangle the animal. A locking eye may be appropriate on some occasions, but I don’t like them. I like to have a fixed open eye. If the snare breaks and the animal gets away, the snare is likely to drop off very quickly so the animal can live the rest of its life unhindered. I have never used a locking eye to catch an animal, and as far as I am aware I have never had one escape when caught by the neck or the body (by the leg is a different story).

KILLING A SNARED ANIMAL
A gun is a good choice, although chances are you might be snaring because guns aren’t available or permitted. A short sturdy club has been very effective on possums. I sometimes have used the back of my tomahawk to clobber them on the skull, but with a tomahawk there is only a small portion at the very end of it that has to connect with the skull to do the job quickly… and when the possum is jumping about, it can be a bit of a circus…especially if the snare cord becomes entangled around the head of the ‘hawk. But a decent club can be flayed about quickly and any part of the last six inches of it will do a decent job when it connects. If you intend bagging something big and don’t have a firearm, then maybe you should carry a short, strong spear so you can keep a healthy distance away.

Well that’s about all I can think of for now. There are plenty of other people around who use traps, and there is quite a bit of info around in books and on the ‘net. I firmly believe that traps or snares are the most reliable way to harvest meat if you can spend time in an area.

A wee while ago I was setting some possum snares when I spotted some wild goats on a hillside. I did not have a gun or a bow with me. I quickly shoved my snaring gear into my pack and circled around the animals, then climbed through the scrub to get above them. I quickly looked around for the trails that I thought they might use and hastily draped some strong snares across them. I then went back down below the goats and allowed them to see and smell me. They took off up the hill and, sure enough, one blundered into a snare. I am not a “blood sportsman” by any means (in fact I detest the concept), but I had to despatch the goat. As I was moving towards the goats I broke off a four-foot branch and hastily tied my small knife to the end with one of my cord snares. When I got to the animal I speared it in the vein that runs alongside the brisket (where you would normally stick a pig). It succumbed quite peacefully, although I did sink my tomahawk into its skull for good measure. As it turned out, I needn’t have made up the makeshift spear as the goat seemed content just to pull back fairly lightly on the cord. I could have quite easily grabbed it by a back leg and tipped it over. Now I want to repeat here that I do not glory in the kill, but I do rejoice in the harvest.

The thing that is most likely to stuff up our hunter-gatherer way of life is well intentioned people who do not share our point of view (even though they exist today because their ancestors were successful hunters). So I urge everybody to act thoughtfully and with respect, and to hunt in such a way so as not to upset other people. And never kill unnecessarily…not a plant, insect, fish, bird or animal.

Happy hunting…. Coote.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Excellent, Coote, thank you for posting it. Have done almost no snaring, although I'm interested.

For that reason, when I wrote and self-published a book on primitive technology, I only made a small mention of snares when I would have liked to have devoted a chapter to the subject.

Still available, the book, that is?

Doc

 

[smithsnoh]

Fascinating stuff, Coote. Thoughtful. Great thoughts on moral obligations. I'm saving this post. :thumbup:

 

[Cliff Stamp]

One thing to come to mind is a consideration of the above in the context that it is often presented as a "survival" technique. It is often mention as a valid means of obtaining food, but how much skill does this actually take to both find the trail of the animal and know how to set the snare accordingly to actually catch it? What about if you are in an area in which you actually don't know the animals, which is often a case in such senarios.

Even given your experience, how long do you think it would take you to become productive if you were in an enviroment in which the animals were not familiar. Meaning they took different trails, had different methods of locomotion, responded to different baits, etc. .

-Cliff

 

[coote]

Doc... the book is still available, but don't get carried away and order it just yet. I am currently working with an Australian website called Earthdog to see if we can publish it online. If this works out it should be a heck of a lot cheaper to get the information compared to paying NZ$29.95 plus shipping for the book. I am hoping people will be able to download it for AUD$4. If you are still hell bent on getting a paper copy, I have some copies which I had better class as "second grade" which I could do at "mates rates". But honestly Doc, although I put my own slant on things, you probably know most of what is in the book already... and with your propensity to research successfully you could still find out most of what you need for free. The book, "Ancient Skills", is aimed at people who haven't had much to do with primitive technology...and I think folks at entry level could find that the book is a good investment. I get a lot of pleasure from discussing my interests and sharing them...and I think it is great to get young folks interested in stuff like this.

Here is an exerpt from the introduction which might help convey what I had in mind for the book:

Ancient Skills

An introduction to:

Primitive Fire Lighting
Primitive Cordage
Bows and Arrows
Primitive Pottery
Rawhide and Hide Glue
Primitive Blacksmithing
And more…..

Stephen Coote

Copyright © Stephen R. Coote, Nelson, New Zealand.
First published 2002
ISBN No: 0-473-08720-0


Introduction

What skills are important? To some people it might be the ability to operate a computer or drive a car.

Things were different for our ancestors. They needed to know how to use what they could find in their natural environment to keep themselves alive and comfortable.

This book is an introduction to some of these skills.

Knowledge of these skills could be extremely useful to someone in a wilderness survival situation. But there is a broader value in learning these things: we can have a better understanding of what has happened in the past; we can develop a more practical, self-sufficient outlook on life; and our appreciation for the natural world can grow. Primitive crafts may provide a satisfying outlet for our creativity and they can be a lot of fun.

 

[coote]

Thanks Smithsnoh, it is nice to feel that I have made contact with a like-minded person.

Cliff... that is a good question about trapping in a new environment.... and I would LOVE to be put in the position of trying to find out.

I reckon that if the "new country" had a variety of wildlife and plenty of it, then it might not take long to catch a meal. But I think it is a very good thing that the average human can survive for several days or weeks without food, because there are no guarantees when you hunt or trap. If I had a huge supply of snare materials I would set dozens of snares in a variety of situations and see what worked. If it were a genuine survival situation things would be a lot more serious. But I am inclined to think that some of the new animals would behave in a fairly similar manner to the animals that I am already acquainted with.

But I would approach it with a positive and grateful attitude as best I could. I have met many challenges in my life and things have worked out... not necessarily because I am smart or tough, but maybe more because I can be persistent.... and I expect things to work out. It is amazing how things can turn out. I always seem to be provided for one way or another.

But until you try it, you don't really know.

I visited the west coast of North America in the late seventies. I saw squirrels, chipmunks, coons and deer. In some camping spots we got real close to some of these. I think they should be relatively easy to catch.... but maybe they were just the campground pets.

And I wouldn't overlook some of the lesser creatures if I were hungry. Insects and birds are two options. I imagine that mice would be caught in a similar manner in many places (but you really need bait for these if you want to be certain of catching them). I have used a primitive deadfall trap to catch a number of mice.

The rabbit family would be another group that I imagine would be fairly similar in their behaviour around the world. But that is just an educated guess. I think some deer would be fairly similar as well.

If I saw big footprints I would set strong snares at a fairly high level. If I saw small footprints I would be making smaller sets. I might get an idea of how big some animals are by seeing how high they rub mud on the trees near their wallow holes (if they have them).

If I had some sort of bait, I might leave it out near some soft ground so that any animals visiting would leave their prints for me to look at.

I figure that all animals like to eat. If you don't have the bait they want, then find out what they are eating and how they get to the food. You then know where to set your snares.

Holes under a fence or through thickets are ideal places to set some experimental snares.

Meeting up with a friendly and willing local inhabitant would probably be one of the best ways to get started towards regularly filling your traps.

But this is all just conjecture. Dang... I would love to try it in real life. Other folks will probably have some good ideas on this as well.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Doc... the book is still available, but don't get carried away and order it just yet. I am currently working with an Australian website called Earthdog to see if we can publish it online. If this works out it should be a heck of a lot cheaper to get the information compared to paying NZ$29.95 plus shipping for the book. I am hoping people will be able to download it for AUD$4.

Hey coote,
I really look forward to reading it. I have a fairly large library of primitive skills/wilderness survival books, and yours will be a welcome addition, but my bucks are on an endangered species list at the moment, so I'll take your advice and wait for the online version.

Doc

 

[coote]

I love looking at primitive skills books myself...and I have a few of them. There are some titles that I am aware of that I haven't seen yet....and I am quite keen to look at them. Mind you, I have been disappointed in the past with some books (of any variety) that I have bought after reading the advertising. They don't seem to contain the details that I long for.

One of the best sources of primitive info, as you will no doubt agree, is the internet. I see people as individual "traps" gathering information that is of special interest to them. If you find the right person, and that person is willing to share, you can learn some good stuff. But of course to get the right info you need honest people and an ability to ask the right questions.

But alas, I think that some of the most knowledgeable folks in the primitive/outdoors field are either no longer with us.... or they never get on line.... they are too busy actually out in the field "doing it" instead of sharing what they know with worthy individuals like Doc and Coote.

My buddy Ed is a good example of a capable guy with a lot of knowledge. Ed is quite a bit younger than me I think, but he has a real feel for primitive things, and he is good with his hands. He lives on a small farmlet in a fairly isolated spot where he has a bullock team that he uses to pull stuff around. He has built a number of bows and two complete percussion muzzleloading rifles from scratch. He can carve wood like Michaelangelo (ok I'm exaggerating a bit, but he's good), and he has harvested meat with bows and snares. But the beggar hasn't got a computer and doesn't seem to inclined to get one.

 

[coote]

Dang I've spent some time on this forum lately. It is probably time I did some work.

 

[pict]

Coote,

Great stuff. Very much of what you posted transports well from one climate to another. You gave some great ideas. You also brought a healthy dose of reality into the whole trapping concept for "wilderness survival". Is trapping effective? Absolutely. Are you going to be an effective trapper when setting them for the first time in a "real life survival situation"? Not likely.

The first SEASON that you run a line of steel leg-holds you will wonder if they even have springs in them. Then three weeks into your 5 AM morning trudge through the frozen forest you dejectedly check yet another unproductive set and a pair of eyes are blinking back at you and you caught your first raccoon.

Through the process of trial and error, observation, pondering, tweaking, and really taking scent seriously, after a while you have steady work skinning and stretching.
Traps are cool, but they aren't going to pay off for a first- timer over the course of a 72-hour wilderness survival experience. Just my opinion.

Thanks for starting with the morality that must govern setting snares. One of the very first animals we ever caught in a leg-hold was a neighborhood cat, complete with bell on its collar. We had made a drowning set over a log that crossed a creek. A perfect place to make a killer set. Bam, first night the chain was straight down in the water. It had never crossed our minds that maybe a cat from a nearby home also used that route.

You're right about locking cable snares. They are deadly effective and without mercy. If you make a mistake and catch a pet or non-targeted animal you will kill or wound it.

Great stuff, now stop all this internet nonsense and get to work. Mac

 

[runningboar]

Coote,
Great work and I salute you for trying to make your sets as humane as possible and using materials that harm the animals as little as possible. I am going to try some of your ideas.

Pict,
Very sobering story about catching the pet cat, I have a different take on it however. Pet owners should contain their pets, cats and dogs. Cats, feral and tame, wreak havoc on songbirds and small game and should not be left to free roam under any circumstance, nor should dogs. I would never intentionally trap someones pet without trying everything under my power to get the owner to take care of the problem, however sometimes you are left with no other recourse. Chris

 

[22-rimfire]

I have trapped with steel traps and I generally had no use for snares. I view snares as a survivial item (mine, not the animal) or as a method of extermination for things like wild hogs or coyotes. It is hard to make the snare or a steel trap for that matter animal or quarry selective. You of course attempt to do that by using different sized traps or snares. Checking traps daily is imparative! I would feel really bad if I caught the neighbors cat or dog.

Thanks for the information on snares. Yes, many people have very strong negative feelings about trapping in general.

 

[pict]

Runningboar,

In this case we were young and inexperienced. We should have known better as this set was on the edge of suburbia and about 80 yards from a house. At the same time we had lots of feral cats in the area. The farm where I used to work had 111 cats on the day we made a roundup and tried to get a count. We would routinely shoot them while groundhog hunting and caught more than a few in our traps. I was once in the barn throwing hay bales and one came up the elevator with a cat paw sticking out. The cat actually got caught in the bailer, and these were tight bales. We all had a good laugh at that. For every cat that got killed on that farm there were eight more in the oven.

Still, when it's a pet and not a stray involved it is a shame. People do need to keep their pets close to home but cats are cats, they get out. Mac

 

[runningboar]

Pict,

It would make me feel bad too, but not for long. I treed a cat with my hounds one time that I swear I was 15 miles from the closest house, cats are awesome predators and need to be controlled. Chris

 

[runningboar]

22-rimfire,

I think snares have a definite place in a trappers repertoire, the are not IMO any less humane than other traps very much more so sometimes. A spring loaded rabbit snare is one of the most humane traps I can think of except for maybe conibears, and they do not kill everytime, all the time, either. In some situations you can catch problem animals with snares when a steel trap won't work, coyotes come to mind right off. And if you think of them as a survival only option you might not practice enough to become proficient in a true survival situation. Chris

 

[pict]

Runningboar,

You know you hit them solid when they don't land on their feet... Mac

 

[coote]

Although we might agree that an inexperienced person in a genuine survival situation can't count on catching some meat in a short time, I would still encourage anybody to try... you never know what Mother Nature might supply. Even an experienced person shouldn't count on catching something immediately.

But just setting a few snares is not as good as setting twenty of them. I still reckon that, in general, trapping is a heck of a lot more reliable than hunting with a gun or a bow. Theoretically, a set snare is always hunting for you while you do other things. And I think you are more likely to eat if you aren't as fussy about what you catch. Maybe there are some animals somewhere in the world that are poisonous or have some deadly problem that cooking may not fix....but I don't know of any. Although I should say at this stage that I will not eat the livers from rabbits, possums or pigs that I catch in some areas because I believe that if they have ingested some poison, the liver is likely to have the highest concentration of it.

I haven't eaten mice yet, but I know some people do. You need bait to be able to count on catching them. Comparatively recently I amused myself by setting up some figure-4 deadfalls to make a change from the store-bought trap. I was amazed at the effectiveness of these traps. I mostly used a short plank of 2" thick timber for the falling part. It really munts those mice.

Steel traps..... I haven't used these much at all, but I would say that if I were using them instead of snares in my current campaign, I would have got a lot more possums. The steel trap can be hidden, and one size fits all possum paws...whereas a snare is often visible, and the variation of size and behaviour in possums means that a snare that will catch one possum might not catch a different one. Although I make a bit of money from my trapping, I am not that obsessed with it that I would change my methods. I like the primitive "feel" of a simple snare... and they are a heck of a lot easier to carry than a bunch of heavy, noisy, uncomfortable steel traps. Besides, I reckon I will probably learn more through persisting with the snares...so one day if I do switch to steel I might be deadly.

Cats.... I have mixed feelings about these, and mostly they hover around frustration and loathing. But on an individual basis I can like and respect them. I know they bring a lot of joy to a lot of people...and I once had a cat that would follow me around the hills when I was out trying to shoot rabbits...it was good company. But I will kill a wild cat without provocation. You might have thought you were a bit irresponsible in your youth Mac... but what about me? When I was a teen I took my single-shot Gecado Plinker .22 out for a rabbit. All I had to do was walk up the road from my house on to farm land... and on the way I would have to walk past driveways to two houses. Coming back down the road I saw a black cat that I didn't recognize as a neigbour's pet... so I shot it at the foot of house driveway. It turns out that the neigbours had people staying with them who owned the black cat. They found out that I had done it, but surprisingly there were no serious repercussions.

My house is built on pole foundations high enough to allow me to park my car under it. The floor of this parking area is covered with gravel. Up until quite recently the local cats seemed to think that this was their local communal dirtbox and they would crap around my car. Boy that really got to me. Fortunately it hasn't been happening much lately, but at one stage I began to think some fairly dark thoughts about these poxy animals. I did throw things at them for a while, so they certainly knew I wasn't keen on them visiting.

I have a few cat stories... but here is one of my favourites. When I was about 10 years old, we adopted two stray kittens. One turned out to be my delightful rabbit hunting companion, and the other one was its sister....and we named her Wocket. Wocket wasn't big on manners, and if she wanted something she would go for it. If you were cutting up meat or boning fish at the kitchen bench Wocket would be likely to be clawing your thighs in an effort to get at it. She got injured, probably by a car, and my folks had to pay a big vet bill to get her fixed (when, in retrospect, putting it down would have been a far more intelligent decision). After the years went by, Wocket forgot that cats are meant to be clean and she gave up all she'd learned about house training. The whole house became her toilet, although I seem to recall that crapping in the bath was one of her favourite activities. And the stuff she left behind wasn't always that manageable... sometimes it would be a great puddle of goo. I had younger brothers and a sister who were probably quite attached to Wocket, so that is the likely reason as to why she was allowed to stay so long. But one day my Dad had had a gutful of the whole Wocket thing. He came home from work during the day when the young kids were at school....with a hunk of steak. He got a .22 and lured Wocket into the concrete garage with the steak (which would not have been difficult). When Wocket was occupied with stuffing her insatiable gut, he put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. I don't know how he would have been feeling at the time, but I am inclined to think that satisfaction may have over-ridden any regret. But Wocket had the last laugh. Although technically dead, or near enough to it, she sprang around the garage like a demented jumping-jack on a pogo stick spreading blood everywhere. So Dad, presumably still in his suit and tie, was faced with a big clean-up operation before the kids got home from school.

 

[pict]

Coote,

My wife and I had a cat that was great. One night we were sleeping up at the mountain house and it was hot so we had all the sliding doors open with the screens shut. About O'dark-thirty the cat let out this blood curdling scream. I jumped up and ran downstairs to see what the problem was. The cat ran from me, pounced on the screen door and started to claw her way up. I ripped her off the screen and slammed the door. She ran to the other screen and did the same thing. I ripped her off the screen and threw her down just as my wife snapped on the lights and yelled "That's not our cat!"

Sure enough this was a black and white cat and ours was a black, white, and tan calico. The invader cat bounded against a livingroom window, switched directions and hit the kitchen window screen knocking it from the frame.

Our cat was hiding under the sofa looking like she had passed through a chipper. Some cats deserve whatever they get. Mac