How to Make a Trap for Small Animals

This instructable will show you how to make a trap for small creatures (although it can be used also on for example on wild boars but you need to use a thicker wire and tougher wood.It wont be able to lift a boar as it does with small animals like rabbits,squirrels,badgers etc. but it will hold it allowing you space and time to make the kill)

Step 1: Materials

One thing i love about this trap is that everything except wire you already have in the woods. All that you will need is:

1x little stick (A)

1x activation stick (B)

1x holding stick (C)

2x sticks with a "hook" on the end (D)

1x bridge stick (E)

some wire

and a young flexible tree (the size of an animal needed to successfully activate the trap is determined how tough is the tree and how far do you pull it down)

Step 2: Setting Up the Trap

To set the trap put the "hook" sticks in the ground about a foot apart and the bridge stick under the hooks.Now put the little stick about half an inch (1cm) shorter in length than the activation stick from the center of the bridging stick so that they form some sort of an imaginary triangle. Tie the wire to the end of the tree and tie the holding stick on some length(this length you have to find because every tree is different).Put the tied holding stick under and behind the bridge stick and put the activation stick on the other end of the holding stick. Also make sure that you removed most of the branches and leaves to reduce drag.

Once you have set up the trap put a loop on the end of the wire and some bait to attract animals.Also i usually pour some vinegar over the trap to mask my scent.

It is probably easier to figure it out just by looking at the pictures but i described it the best i could since english isnt my native language :/

Step 3: Done (and How It Works)

How it works: the bent tree is kept full of potential energy by the activation stick that keeps the holding stick under the bridge(which is held up by holding stick and stopped from going up all the way by the hooks). When weight is applied to the activation stick holding stick slips under the bridge and the bent tree releases potential energy which hangs the caught animal.

If it is set correctly this trap is very good so i hope you enjoyed and good luck :)