Trapping rabbit: Tips and Technique

The steel trap is simply buried in the run, and leaves, grass or earth strewed over its surface so as not to give an appearance of an unusual character. Bait with a piece of apple. Precaution should, however, be taken to tie the trap to a bough or peg in the ground, by a piece of strong string, otherwise the rabbit will carry away the trap. Wire snares are also very effective traps. They are made of fine copper wires, and being inexpensive, a number of them may be set where rabbits abound. The wires are made to form a running loop, just such as we form with string; only the wires are so arranged that they all unite to form the one loop. No ingenious person could fail to form the loop after a few minutes handling of the wire. It is so simple that it will suggest itself. The loop thus made is set across a run, so that the top of the loop stands say about six inches from the ground; and in order to keep it in its proper position, a peg of wood is driven in the ground a little way from the run, and in the top of the peg there is a slit which serves to catch the ends of the wires and holds them in position. The wires must be tied firmly at the end to a string, which may lie on the ground; the end of the string should be tied to a bough sufficiently high from the ground to yield a little when it is pulled. This yielding of the bough prevents the rabbit from snapping the string, which it would otherwise do in its endeavors to escape. Netting rabbits is effected by nets being placed across the runs, but it is very seldom resorted to, as it is less practicable than other methods. There is an ingenious mode of taking rabbits by single wires and what is called a springle, the same in principle as the spring pole. A strong and springy stick is stuck deep into the ground in an upright direction; its smaller end is then bent over, and also buried sufficiently in the ground to keep it down. To this end a wire is tied by a short string, and when the rabbit is caught, his first jump pulls the end of the springle out of the soil, and it then lifts the rabbit completely from the ground, thereby depriving it of all power of escape.

Return to Boys Own Book of Outdoor Sports