Catch a Wild Rabbit
Wild rabbits are a bit of a pest in many places and thinning out the population does the environment — and indeed the rabbit population — good. The European rabbit originated in southern mainland Europe and was exported as a food source, first by the Romans who took them to Britain. The British unfortunately then exported them to Australia, amongst other places, where they wreaked ecological havoc. The Americas have their own genus, the cottontail.
Contents
Steps
Catching Rabbits with a Simple Snare Loop
- Find a natural opening on a rabbit trail for best results. You're going to want to place your snare along a path that rabbits use, or else you're hoping that a rabbit will magically appear in your trap. A natural rabbit trail will ensure that rabbits pass through the general area that your snare is in.
- Finding a natural opening of a rabbit trail is easier to do during winter. Look for telltale rabbit tracks in the snow when determining what parts of the forest rabbits go through.
- Cut down a large tree branch or a small tree to further funnel any rabbits into your snare. Any type of tree will do, as long as it has branches. After cutting down the tree or tree branch, chop off any limbs around a foot-long (.3 m) strip in the middle of the branch.
- Make sure the tree or tree branch is large enough to hold onto the rabbit. While rabbits are neither strong nor big, they can make away with a tree branch that is too small, making tracking more difficult.
- Place the tree branch over the rabbit trail, making sure that the bare strip of branch is centered over the trail. The limbs and branches you cut off will lead the rabbit away from the sides and into the center of the snare.
- Drive small stakes of wood into the ground at both the sides of the snare. Do this at points where the rabbit is likely to slip underneath the branch, away from the center of the snare.
- Take thin copper or brass wire and tie a small loop at one end. About 1 1/2 inches from the end of the wire, make a small (~3 cm) loop by leaving a hole and then twisting the end of the wire in on itself four or five times.
- If you don't have thin wire, you can also use sturdy string, but know that some rabbits will gnaw through the rope. All in all, using wire is a more humane way to kill a rabbit.
- Cut the other end of the wire after approximately 2 feet (.6 m).
- Feed the cut end of the wire through the loop end, creating a small noose. When the rabbit hops into the noose, struggling will only tighten the noose even more onto the body part, strangling the rabbit. This is how this snare works.
- Attach the standing end of the noose onto the tree or tree branch that you placed over the rabbit trail. Attach it to the tree by wrapping it around the tree several times, and then finally in a simple knot around the wire itself, to ensure that it doesn't accidentally slip.
- How far up off the ground should the noose be? Although it's contested, many trappers advise placing the noose anywhere from 4 to 6 inches off the ground. If keeping the noose 4 to 6 inches off the ground doesn't allow you enough room to tie the standing end around the tree branch, start over again, this time with more length on the wire.
- Make sure also that the noose is completely in the center of the snare. A noose that's off to one side or another will make trapping the rabbit much harder.
- Place two more small sticks into the ground in an "X" pattern at the bottom of the snare. This will keep the rabbit from slipping in underneath the noose.
- Mark the location of the snare with some red fabric and check the snare every day. If you don't check the snare often, the rabbit could be eaten by a fox or a bird before you have time to harvest it.
Catching Rabbits with a Create a Trap Pit
- Dig out a large enough hole. Depending on the size of rabbit you're catching, your hole should probably be several feet deep and several feet wide. The deeper your hole, the lower the chance that any fallen rabbit could climb back out.
- Place the hole either in the middle of a rabbit trail or someplace where you image rabbits to be. If you don't place the trap in the middle of a trail, you'll need to lure a rabbit over onto the pit trap using bait.
- Gather several sticks that are just wider than the hole. Getting the right width is important. Too large and your pitfall trap won't trigger when a rabbit steps over it. Too small and you'll never be able to make your trap stand up. Gather three or four of these kind of sticks. Lay them across the width of the trap.
- Going in a perpendicular direction, lay very small twigs across the sticks. Try to get a crosshatch pattern going — three or four big sticks going in one direction and lots of small twigs going in the other direction.
- Carefully lay dead foliage over the top of the trap, covering the sticks entirely.
- Carefully cover the foliage with dirt, blending the trap into its surroundings. If the surroundings are varied, make sure to vary the top of the dirt. Try also to harvest old dirt and place it on top, so that the dirt doesn't look freshly-dug.
- Place bait on top of the trap (optional). Place corn, carrots, or other vegetables on top of the trap to lure the rabbit onto the trap. Try placing the bait in the middle of the trap so that the rabbit has to step onto the center of the pit trap in order to activate it.
- Mark the location of the snare with some red fabric and check the snare every day. Mark the trap so that you can locate it again quickly and efficiently. Remember to check the trap every day so that if you do catch a rabbit, you won't cause it to unnecessarily suffer while it's in captivity.
Catching Rabbits with a Build Your Own Small Mammal Trap
- Purchase or obtain a live trap. A live trap usually contains a trap door, a trap mechanism, and pulleys. It can be found online or at your local farm and feed store. It is primarily used to catch rabbits while keeping them alive.
- Find food to place onto the trap mechanism. Again, corn, carrots, vegetables, or bread should be sufficient to lure rabbits into the trap, after which the trap door gets activated and the rabbit is caught.
- Be sure to place the food directly on the trap mechanism. If it's improperly placed, there's a good chance your rabbit could slip loose with a full belly and you'll have nothing to show for it.
- Pick up the door and lock it into place, setting the trap. Follow the directions that come with the live trap in order to set it. Make sure that the trap activates by probing the trap mechanism with a long stick. If the trap doesn't activate, be sure to set it again until it does.
- Check the trap frequently for caught rabbits. Any caught rabbits shouldn't be able to hurt themselves in the trap, but it's humane to check for a catch at least every 24 hours.
- Once caught, release the rabbit or do with it as you please. Be sure to wear protective gloves if you do catch a rabbit. Though they are generally harmless, they could try to bite you in your effort to set them free.
Catching Rabbits with a Box Trap
- Make a rabbit house out of a carton box. The box has to be smaller than 40 inches. Cut away all the carton on the bottom of the box. Put the box outside.
- Cut down a not too heavy or not too long tree branch. Tie the branch somewhere not higher than 50 inches. At the other end of the branch, tie the branch onto something else. Then, in the middle of the branch, tie a rope that is three inches long.
- Make a 2 holes in the top of the box. Put the string through one of the holes.
- Get the string out of the box. Do this by putting your hand inside in the box, put the string in the other hole from inside the box. Make sure you place the box in an isolated area. Take your hand out of the box and pull the string you got out from inside the box and tie the string to the other string with 3 knots.
- In the middle of the string that holds the box, tie a sewing thread that is 1 inch in length. Connect the thread with the string and make two holes in the top of the box.
- At both ends from left to right, tie a rope that hangs down 3 inches.
- Tie an entire carrot at both ends. The carrot has to be 3 or 4 inches high. When the rabbit jumps up and pulls the carrot down with its paws, the thin sewing thread will break and the box will fall over the rabbit.
Tips
- When approaching a rabbit, walk slowly with no sudden movement or else you might scare the rabbit away.
- Instead of looking for tracks, you could watch the rabbits to find out where they go.
- Don't make changes to your trap unless it's failing miserably. A rabbit may be able to smell your scent and stay away.
- If you skin the rabbit you can use the fur for making things like moccasins after you catch at least one more.
- If you skin and eat wild rabbits, make sure you wear gloves if you have any cuts or sores on your hands. They can carry a disease called tularemia that can make you sick. Also cook the meat well done. Rabbits are known to have tapeworms and other parasites.
- One way to catch a rabbit is with apple slices and a good sized trap.
- Take two people with you so you can catch them easier.
- If you can't track it or watch it, look for what they have eaten.
- Handle your snares as little as possible to ensure your scent doesn't transfer onto them.
Things You'll Need
- Wire
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