THE SIMPLE SNARE

If you ever find yourself in a real -life survival situation; PLANTS, NOT MEAT should always be your first food consideration and concern.
It must be noted these “bush craft survival tools” are not toys for macho types; or for kids; who never grew up. All are very, very, dangerous-can be dangerous to human life or detrimental to survival. All are illegal to use in Canada and or other CIVILIZED counties, except in extreme emergency. All must be clearly marked during the period of use; and must be dismantled immediately after the emergency situation is over. IF YOU ARE USING ANY OF THESE TOOLS TO TRAP OR KILL GAME, UNDER THE GUISE OF PRACTISING BUSHCRAFT, YOU COULD, AND SHOULD BE, CHARGED WITH ANIMAL ABUSE, DANGEROUS ACTIVITY-POTENTIALLY CAUSING HUMAN HARM, AND SEVERAL OTHER THINGS UNDER THE FISH AND WILDLIFE ACT.

SIMPLE SNARE

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The simple snare is pretty much self-explanatory; it consists of a noose placed over a trail or den hole. Remember, in a survival situation, you usually will not be looking for large game animals (there can be many  disadvantages to doing so); but make sure the noose is large enough and at the height required to pass over the animals head (snares intended to catch by the head should never be low enough for the prey to step on). As the animal continues to move the noose tightens around it's neck. The more the animal struggles the tighter the noose gets.
Note:
Because this type of snare seldom kills, it is the safest to use, especially in a disaster situation, in a populated area. 
ALWAYS, use dead wood for your supports; otherwise your friendly neighbourhood BEAVER, rabbit, or porcupine may think they look like a nice light snack and decide to eat them. Secondly, the sap in green wood will leak out, dry, and tend to glue the parts together; preventing release

Not only can the supporting frame I show for a simple snare be easily modified, (there can be any number of slight variations), and used as a triggering device for dead-falls, snares or other traps; it is much easier to adapt, easier to construct, and

 MUCH MORE RELIABLE THAN THE USUAL FIGURE 4 SET UP

It will be the best option for use with any and all of your snares and traps. 

 In order to use as such, do not tie or fasten the horizontal bar in any way, preferably use a 7 shaped notch in the vertical supports and face them  in opposite directions so that it will make no difference from which direction the prey enters the trap. 

FOR USE WITH A DEAD-FALL,TIP-UP: first, invert the 7 shaped notches in the two vertical supports and extend the horizontal pole so that it can be used as a bait/trigger stick. Next,place the pole that will be supporting the dead- fall weight on top of this horizontal pole.  
If there is to be an upward pull, as in the case of a NO DEAD-WEIGHT, TIP-UP SNARE, or as when using cordage to lift and support a dead-fall, do not invert the 7 shaped notches.
There are many who also will fashion a hook out of wood or other material (they call it a trigger--the horizontal bar is your actual trigger) then attach it to the snare line and hook it around the horizontal bar. While some what convenient, this "trigger"hook is not necessary, and really, just makes things more complicated.
If using cordage to fashion the snare, it is best to use an overhand slip knot to fashion the noose--bring the end of the cordage up behind the standing line, wrap it around twice then bring the end up through the two wraps--don't tie it too tight; remember this is a slip knot, it is meant to slip . 

The following is meant more for a professional trapper than for any one wishing just to survive some kind of a disaster; but it will also give the SURVIVOR some idea of what it is really all about.

I see that  Google as AOL is trying it again.

Project Gutenberg's Deadfalls and Snares, by A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding-published 1905. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg- PUBLISHED BEFORE 1923 ALL MATERIAL IS PUBLIC DOMAIN-THERE IS NO COPY-RIGHT, NO US OWNERSHIP; AND THE ONLY LEGALLY BINDING RESTRICTIONS ARE AGAINST ANY ARCHIVES, COLLECTIONS, LIBRARIES,AND ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS AMAZON, AOL, GOOGLE, WIKI,  ANY INDIVIDUALS OR PERSONS ATTEMPTING TO IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS AS TO USAGE OR CLAIMING ANY KIND OF OWNERSHIP OR COPY RIGHTS.

In many ways the snare is splendid for lynx. In Northern Canada where the lynx seldom take bait, they may be taken quite easily in snares set on snowshoe trails. Fig. 1 shows a wire snare set on such a trail. Go about it in the following manner: Having found a suitable place along the edge of some swamp or alder thicket,  Cut a spruce or balsam tree, about ten or twelve feet long, and throw it across the trail. Press the tree down until the stem of the tree is about twenty inches above the trail, and make an opening in the trail by cutting a few of the limbs away on the underside of the trail. Then set a couple of dead stakes on each side so as to leave the opening about ten inches wide and hang snare between these stakes and directly under the stem of the tree.

The snare should be about nine inches in diameter and should be fastened securely to the tree. It should also be fastened lightly to the stakes on either side, so it will not spring out of shape. The best way is to make a little split in the side of each stake, and fasten the snare with a very small twig stuck in the split stake.

Make the snares of rabbit wire, about four or five plies thick, twisted. Some trappers prefer to use a cord. The dark coloured codfish line is best, and it is best to use a spring pole snare, and Fig. 3 shows the method of tying and fastening to the stakes. It will be seen that when the lynx passes his head through the snare he only needs to give a slight pull to open the slip knot and release the spring pole.

To prevent the rabbits from biting a cord snare, rub it well with the dropping of the lynx or fox and also, never use any green wood other than spruce or balsam, as any fresh green wood is sure to attract the rabbits or other animals looking for a nice light lunch. You may also put a small piece of beaver castor along the trail on each side of the snare, and you will be surer of the lynx, as beaver castor is very attractive to these big cats.

For those of you that still insist on a figure 4 type trigger, a slight variation of my simple frame trigger is much more reliable than the usual figure 4 trigger configuration. This  configuration; still simple and non exacting, actually works; very-very well. At first glance, it may look much like the typical figure 4 set up; but examination will  show that it is not, at all, the same. It is, really,the same trigger I have already described/shown above. 

© Al (Alex, Alexander) D. Girvan