How to Build a Snare Trap

Knowing how to build a snare trap could save your life if you're stranded in the wilderness.

Learning how to build a snare trap is a basic survival skill. You can never predict what circumstances may land you in the wilderness with nothing but your wits and survival skills. Knowing how to make a snare will enable you to catch food in situations where you may not have a hunting weapon, or in situations where a rifle shot is undesirable. A series of well-placed traps can actually produce more food than a hunter can shoot by traditional means. If you're the type who likes to be prepared, learn how to build a snare trap.

Things You'll Need

• Wood stake
• Baling wire
• Mud
• Loose sticks

Instructions

1. Analyze your surroundings. Carefully walk around, looking for signs of animals in the area. Look for trails, runs, tracks or animal droppings. Don't leave any signs that you are in the area. Digging holes, breaking green branches or grossly disturbing the vegetation will signal to the animals that you are in the area. You want them to be unsuspecting, not on a heightened sense of alert.

2. Identify what types of animals are available for trapping. You can tell what types of animals are in the area from their tracks, droppings and visual sightings. It's important to know what type of animal you'll be trying to trap in your snare, so that you can adjust the size of the trap. A snare trap intended to catch rabbits, for example, will need to be slightly larger than one intended to catch squirrels.

3. Identify the key areas where animals are active. Animals typically have three primary areas that they return to frequently--a watering hole, a place to eat and a place to sleep, with clear trails connecting all three. These are the places where you'll build snare traps.

4. Drive a stake in the ground. Any large stick will make a good stake, as long as it is strong enough to withstand being pounded into the ground. Use a large, flat rock as a hammer. The stake should be hammered in far enough that the struggling animal cannot pull it up.

5. Tie one end of a strand of baling wire around the stake. It's good to carry a few pieces of baling wire in your pack, measuring about 3 feet each. But if you're caught in the wilderness by surprise, any corded material will do, even your shoelaces. Baling wire is preferred, however, because it will remain tight if the animal stops struggling.

6. Make a loop with the other end of the bailing wire, so that you now have a large circle, almost like a wire lasso, tied to the stake. Twist the bottom of this loop to form a smaller circle, just large enough for the head of your prey to fit through. Then fold the smaller circle up so that it is positioned inside the smaller loop. Position the snare over the trail or run that the animal is expected to follow.

7. Make barriers to drive the animal directly into the snare. Gather loose sticks and twigs, and stick them into the ground so that they stand up on either side of the trail, forming a makeshift fence. Set them up in a cone or funnel formation--wider at one end but coming closer together as you near the snare, until the path is eventually just big enough for the animal to fit through. Avoid breaking fresh, green trees in the area of your trap, as the odor of the sap will put the animals on alert.

8. Cover your scent. Animals have a strong sense of smell and will detect human presence easily. Try to find some mud from an area with a lot of decaying vegetation, and rub it over your snare trap and stake. Once you have captured and killed your first animal, you can use urine from the bladder to mask the scent of your trap and even to attract prey.

9. Check your traps often. Snare traps will usually put a stranglehold on the animals without killing them. While this means fresh meat for you, it also means that your traps should be checked often to prevent any unnecessary suffering by the animal being captured. This is a delicate balance, because you also need to leave the area long enough for animals to return to their normal routine. Check your traps every couple of hours to see if you have captured anything.

Tips & Warnings

• Assemble your snares in advance and carry them to the area where they are to be set. This enables you to set the snare quickly while disturbing the area as little as possible.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Wilderness Survival: Traps and Snares