The Portable Snare

Categories: SNARES OR MOOSE TRAPS.

This is simply a modification of the snare just described, but

possesses decided advantages over it in many respects. In the first

place, it requires little or no protection in the shape of an enclosure.

It can be set in trees or in swamps, or in short in any place

where an upright elastic branch can be found or adjusted. Like

the foregoing, it is to be commended for its portability, fifty

or sixty of the pieces making but a small parcel, and furnishing

material for a score of traps. We call it the portable snare

partly in order to distinguish it from the one just described,

but chiefly because this particular variety is generally called

by that name in countries where it is most used.



It is composed of three pieces, all to be cut from a shingle or thin

board. Let the first be about eight inches long, and three-quarters

of an inch in width. This is for the upright. An oblong mortise

should be cut through this piece, one inch in length, and beginning

at about an inch from the end of the stick. Three inches from the

other end, and on one of the broad sides of the stick, a notch

should be made, corresponding in shape to that shown in our

illustration. The bait stick should be four or five inches long,

one end fitting easily into the mortise, where it should be secured


by a wire or smooth nail driven through so as to form a hinge, on

which it will work easily. On the upper side of this stick, and two

inches distant from the pivot, a notch should be cut, similar to that

in the upright. The catch piece should be about two inches in length,

and bevelled off to a fiat edge at each end. This completes the pieces.






To set the trap, it is only necessary to find some stout sapling,

after which the upright stick may be attached to it close to the

ground, by the aid of two pieces of stout iron wire, twisted firmly

around both. It is well to cut slight grooves at each end of the

upright for the reception of the wires, in order to prevent slipping.

Tie a strong piece of twine around one


end of the catch piece, knotting it on the beveled side. Cut the

string about two feet in length, and attach the other end to the

tip of the sapling. Adjust the bait stick on its pivot. By now

lowering the catch piece, and lodging the knotted end beneath the

notch in the upright and the other end in the notch on the bait

stick, the pieces will appear as in our drawing. Care should be

taken to set the catch pieces as slightly as possible in the notches,

in order to insure sensitiveness. At about four inches from the

catch piece, the wire noose should be attached and arranged in a

circle directly around the bait. By now backing up the trap with

a few sticks to prevent the bait from being approached from behind,

the thing is complete, and woe to the misguided creature that dares

to test its efficacy. By adjusting the drawstring so far as the

upper end of the catch piece, the leverage on the bait stick is

so slight as to require a mere touch to overcome it; and we may

safely say that, when this trap is once baited, it will stay baited,

so far as animal intruders are concerned, as we never yet have

seen a rabbit or bird skilful enough to remove the tempting morsel

before being summarily dealt with by the noose on guard duty.



For portability, however, the following has no equal.