Homemade Trap Earth Anchors

Animal traps need to be anchored to keep trapped animals from escaping.

When trapping animals using body-grip, foot-hold or cable-restraint type of traps, the traps have to be secured to the ground to prevent the animal from escaping after being caught. Traditionally, traps have been staked down or wired to trees. However, the best place to set a trap may not be near a tree and for trappers on foot, carrying heavy stakes to drive into the Earth can make a cumbersome load. Earth anchors are light, secure and work well in most soil types.

Things You'll Need

• 1/8-inch, 7-strand cable
• Measuring tape
• Felt tip marker
• 1/4-inch by 2-inch fender washer
• 16-penny nail
• ball peen hammer
• cold chisel
• anvil
• bench vise
• Two 1/4 X 20 hex nut

Instructions

The Cable

1. Determine what length of Earth anchor you will need. Soft, muddy soils require anchors at least 24 inches long. A 16-inch Earth anchor will hold in dry, hard, packed soils.

2. Measure the cable and mark it with a felt tip marker 3 inches longer than the working length of the anchor you plan to make. If you want to end up with a 20-inch anchor, mark the cable at 23 inches.

3. Lay the cable across an anvil, position a sharp cold chisel on the measured mark and strike the chisel sharply with a ball peen hammer to cut the cable to length.

The Stopper

1. Make a mark on the 16-penny nail with the felt-tip marker 2 1/4 inches from the head end of the nail.

2. Lay the nail on an anvil, position a sharp, cold chisel on the measured mark and strike the chisel sharply with a ball peen hammer to shorten the nail.

3. Insert the shortened nail into a fender washer.

4. Pinch the head end of the nail securely in a bench vise.

5. Strike the nail with the hammer to start bending it into a loop. Once the nail is slightly bent, the nail can be squeezed with the vise to further bend it. The end product should have the head of the nail on one side of the fender washer and a closed loop formed in the shank of the nail on the other side.

Put it Together

1. Insert one end of the cable through a 1/4 X 20 hex nut. Pull several inches through.

2. Insert the same end of the cable back through the hex nut, but in the opposite direction, forming a loop. Only 1/4 inch of cable needs to be reinserted.

3. Pull the long end of the cable to shrink the loop to one inch in size.

4. Lay the hex nut on edge on the anvil and use a ball peen hammer to smash it flat so the threads inside the nut grip the strands of the cable securely.

5. Make another loop on the other end of the cable as in steps 1 to 4 of this section, but thread the fender washer/nail assembly onto the loop in the cable through the loop made in the nail before peening the nut flat.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a piece of ½-inch cold rolled steel rod with a slot cut in one end as a stake driver. Insert the fender washer in the slot. Drive the washer down into the Earth until the loop at the other end of the anchor is at ground level. Pull out the washer-driver then give a tug on the anchor to make the washer pivot to horizontal. Connect the trap to the Earth anchor.

• Earth anchors work well in most soil types. They won't work in extremely rocky or loose, mucky soils.

References

• The Snare Shop: Soft Ground Pogo Washers

Resources

• The Hunting Life: Earth Anchors or Disposable Stakes