Deadfalls and Snares: A Book of Instruction for Trappers About These and Other Home-Made TrapsHarding, A. R. (Arthur Robert)
General
Deadfalls and Snares: A Book of Instruction for Trappers About These and Other Home-Made Traps
Harding, A. R. (Arthur Robert)
Animal traps; Animal traps -- Juvenile literature
The setting of a snare is done thus: A good sound tamarac or other
pole fifteen or twenty feet long is used for the tossing. The butt
end of this must be five or six inches in diameter and the small end
about three inches. A tree with a crotch in it is then selected to
balance the pole upon. Failing to find such a tree in the proper
place, an artificial fork is made by crossing two stout young birch
or tamarac, firmly planted in the ground, and the two upper points
tied together six or ten inches from the top. The balancing or
tossing pole is lodged in this fork so that the part towards the butt
would out-weigh a bear of two or three hundred pounds suspended from
the small end.
Next a stout little birch or spruce is selected and a section of
three or four cut off. From this all the branches are removed, except
one, the small end is pointed and driven deep into the ground a few
inches at one side of the bear road. The snare is made of three
twisted strands of eighteen thread cod line and is firmly tied to the
tossing pole. A few dried branches are stuck in the ground each side
of the path, the pole is depressed so the very end is caught under
the twig on the stick driven in the ground for that purpose and the
noose is stiffened by rubbing balsam branches which leave enough gum
to make it hold its shape.
The noose is kept in the proper position (the bottom being about
sixteen inches above the road and the diameter being about eleven
inches) by blades of dry grass looped to it and the ends let into a
gash on sticks at each side, put there for that purpose. No green
branches are used in the hedge about the road because this would make
the bear suspicious. The snare is now complete and the hunter stands
back and examines it critically. His last act is to rub some beaver
castor on the trunk of some tree standing near the road, ten or
twelve feet from the snare. This is done on another tree at the same
distance on the opposite side of the snare.
Bears are attracted by the smell of the castor and rub themselves
against the tree in the same way as a dog rubs on carrion. When
finished rubbing on one tree he scents the other and in going to get
at the fresh one tries to pass thru the snare. He feels the noose
tighten about his neck and struggles; this pulls the end of the
tossing pole from under the branch trigger, up goes the pole and old
Bruin with it.
* * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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