predators stealing your snared animals

[coon4492]

Snares aren't legal in PA only cable restraints for coyotes. So I was bending the rules a little to practice such a basic survival skill. Anyways I actually only set two snares in my woods for rabbit. I was trying to learn how to identify rabbit runs, which aren't easy to find. I've gotten alot better because my second snare did get a rabbit but all that was left of him was a pile of fur. Something managed to pull the dead rabbit out of the snare and drag him away. I know twitch up snares are suppose to be a solution to this but I could still see a predator getting to the animal even if it's hanging. I was wondering if there are other alternatives to keeping predators away from your food source? I was thinking of rigging a primitive cage trap but I'd probably need bait to get the rabbit in it. I also thought of setting a fox snare and a coyote snare near the rabbit snare, it could increase my food supply.

[dixieangler]

I was trying to learn how to identify rabbit runs, which aren't easy to find. I've gotten alot better because my second snare did get a rabbit but all that was left of him was a pile of fur. Something managed to pull the dead rabbit out of the snare and drag him away. I know twitch up snares are suppose to be a solution to this but I could still see a predator getting to the animal even if it's hanging. I was wondering if there are other alternatives to keeping predators away from your food source? I was thinking of rigging a primitive cage trap but I'd probably need bait to get the rabbit in it.

How often did you check your snare? I am not surprised that something snatched your meal.

A long seasoned spring pole for a spring snare will work best for suspending small game like a rabbit and is better than a fixed snare for making it harder for another animal from snatching a free meal but it is more work. You can set a lot more fixed snares for the same amount of work for one spring snare. But spring snares make it harder for them to get at the meal but not a sure thing. You can try a wood cage trap but some critters may even bite through or break that to get at the meal. Animals are trying to survive out in the woods also so they will go to extreme lengths to get at "any" kind of meal or food. I will say it again, check your traps often. You win some and you lose some but frequent checking is the best option. The trap could have also been tripped and may need resetting.

Rabbits like plant food. I use palmetto cabbage but starchy plant food, fruit, acorn meat, nut meats and the like might also be an option. Just think about what else also likes that kind of food and you won't be surprised by what else could be caught in your traps. Check animal sign on any run including the size of the run or burrow. Tracks, droppings, hair, chewed leftover bits of food, things like that. All these signs stick out like a sore thumb. Simply put, animal sign is evidence of animal disturbance. The kind of disturbance is relative to the animal that made it. You may have three or four different animals all using the same run so you will have an idea of what to expect in your trap (or meal snatchers) when you set up a trap. This may not be a bad thing as more animals on the same run mean more chances for the snare but you will just have to be prepared to deal with those animals. If you use cord for a snare, be aware that some animals can chew through the cord. Wire is the best but may not be an option (primitively) in the woods. Wire also will cut into an animal as it tries to free itself and some animals have even chewed through their own appendages just to escape. So no, snares are not humane but they do work.

On a fresh run where I set up a spring snare a few weeks ago, I had a rabbit, a raccoon, and a deer all using the same run. So I could have snared any of those. I did not leave the snare set as it was on public land and highly illegal but it was practice and it worked. I had no doubt it would have caught one of those three had I left it set. There were other runs that were a safer bet in the same area as those had either rabbit sign alone on them or one that I saw had rabbit sign, armadillo sign, and snake sign on it (I later saw the actual snake and it was a very large black snake of about four or five feet long).

[coon4492]

I will admit I wasn't checking the snare as often as I should have been. Something jumped on the opportunity before I could check it so I guess the lesson here is to check them more frequently. I experimented with another type of twitch up snare I saw in the AMNH in NY a long time ago. It was on display in the eastern woodland indian section. It's basically a y shaped stick with a straight stick balancing in it. You add more weight to one end with the snare on the other. I used the same trigger as the twitch up snare and gave it a test. It works just as well but it still takes just as long to make as the twitch up. It would be useful when you'd want to make a twitch up but there's no saplings near the game trail. It might also work as a fish snare, I'm going to try that this spring. Overall I think you're right, set lots of basic snares and check them frequently is the way to go.

[dixieangler]

It's basically a y shaped stick with a straight stick balancing in it. You add more weight to one end with the snare on the other. I used the same trigger as the twitch up snare and gave it a test. It works just as well but it still takes just as long to make as the twitch up.

I am familiar with counterweight traps and counterweight tension snares (but I would not call it a spring snare since there is no spring). Yep, the trigger on most any trap or snare is a matter of preference. Some are more sensitive than others. There was an article I read somewhere that showed a "lot" of different triggers. It even broke the old Paiute trigger down in stages that progressively made just that one trigger more and more sensitive. It got ridiculous as the friction factors for each stage got less. It was a good online article. Wish I could find it. For crying out loud, it was right here all the time. lol The Lost Traps Its just that they are from other traps, not just the Paiute like I thought.

[coon4492]

I recall reading that article before but alot of the triggers were difficult to rig. I experimented with the mcphereson trigger with a snare instead of a dead fall and that worked great. It camoflauges better than any other spring snare so nothing looks out of place.

[dixieangler]

Yeah, there are like three triggers I use more than any others. Paiute, McPherson, and Rolling.

I am impressed with this one although I don't use deadfalls much. The only thing that may be a problem is the fall of the weight being disrupted by the standing sticks themselves.

Friction Point Split Stick Trigger

The spring snares they have on here are nothing like mine. Mine is just a simple seasoned spring pole either stuck in the ground or tied to a tree with the cord going down to an L-shaped anchor stick stuck in the ground. The Paiute trigger end of it is just a small flat stick with one twist on the cord pinched up against the back of the L crook anchor held in place by a pressure stick whose other end is butted up against another straight anchor stick in the ground. The pressure stick is low to the ground and I just put small sticks or bark on it to serve as a pressure plate. The noose goes on top of the pressure plate and all that is covered in debris. I may or may not drop bait in the middle. I may just use a toggle stick in place of the Paiute trigger stick that goes down and fits into a notch in the end of the pressure stick but then I have to add an extra anchor stick for the pressure stick. Its hard to explain this stuff but if you look at McPherson's spring snares in his book, mine are the same as his but I usually use a Paiute trigger instead of McPherson's trigger but not always. Both will work for a simple spring snare. If I want a pressure plate though I go with the Paiute. If I want a snag snare, then the McPherson. My spring fish snares are also as simple as I can make them so I opt for a rolling trigger on those.

Rolling Snare

Bear in mind that spring snares that require more parts and effort also disturb a run more so fixed snares disturb less with less effort and less parts and have an advantage here. The odds favor fixed snares more simply due to more of them versus spring snares. The failure rate of fixed snares (due to noose size and set up problems) would probably also be higher than spring snares though that do not have to rely "as much" on the size or position of the noose. A snag spring snare does rely more on noose size and position than a pressure plate spring snare.

[dixieangler]

If you get a rabbit or other animal, Joe, just be extra careful in the cleaning/dressing of the critter. Keep the animal fluids, blood and guts, and such from getting into your eyes, mouth, open wounds, and so on. Scrub up immediately after the carcass and meat is prepared and cooking. Even ash from the fire and water will clean you and your knives. When you cook the meat, cook it all the way through so its WELL done. If its not done all the way through, get it back on the fire.

Do not even mess with rodents (mice and rats) unless you have to. Hanta virus can kill you very quickly and it lives in the urine, blood, and feces of rodents. Even breathing the rodent droppings that are stirred up airborne from sweeping can transmit Hanta to you. If you have to make do with rodents, keep them at distance away from you with a long stick and cook them "as is" without any cleaning to kill any diseases before touching the rodent. Tree rats (squirrels) are different but caution as with any critter with them also.

[dixieangler]

Tell you what, Joe, I will try to set up some small scale snares (probably not full size) I use and take some photos of them so I can post them. That way you can see what I use rather than me trying to only explain it.

[LDS]

Here it comes Joe!

The answer to your snare problems.

Bungee cords.

Rig your snare using bungee cords instead of natural spring branches and eliminate the problem of finding the ideal snare location on the run w/ branch available. You can even drive a post into the ground next to the run and set the bungee to the top of the post.

In our modern "urban wilderness we must do what we must do. Nature will not always provide what we need as it did 100 years ago in the "great north woods".

I can not recommend the Hoods Woods video series enough in this area. Ron Hood was an excellent instructor and did an amazing video on traps and snares. He set the standard for all the U-tube survival instructor we have to deal with today. They all copy his instructional style, his "sit on the stump and talk" presentation and even his look.

http://www.survival.com/?page_id=241

Ron's vids are not 10 minute clips, they are full length instructional videos. I think I remember the trapping vid being 1 1/2 hours long.


Another truck for the urban forager is the use or RAT TRAPS. Not little mouse traps, but the big old rat traps that are about 6" long and 3" wide. They work very well on squirrels and young rabbits. Just drill a hole in one corner for your security line or to attach it to the twitch up.

Not many folks are going to have bungees or rat traps in their day pack but in our urban/suburban setting, which is where most of us would be operating, they are available from the Dollar Store or Wally-world.

Fact is, I keep both items in my Jeep. Of course I keep a weeks supply of Dinty Moore and Vietti chilli along with rifle and ammo, so I am really hoping I will be rescured or the body recovered before I am reduced to eating rat trapped squirrel.

As far as the Hunta virus is concerned, I find no cases of the disease reported east of the Mississippi River. It seems confined to the dry climate areas for some reason. Rats and mice are just nasty and the thoughts of eating one are repulsive to me. It is the smell. I simply can not get past that rat smell.