snaring rabbits

[shawn9914]

Hi All

 

I went out yesterday afternoon and set 15 snares with my 12 year old lad to try and catch some rabbits, this is completely new to me and I have never done it before, we went out this morning to check on the snares and my lad was a little fed up as we never caught a single rabbit

 

I am after some advise of people who know how to do it as I clearly don't lol, my method was to set the snares over all the rabbit holes and a couple on runs in the under growth. I set all the snares using about a 5 inch loop and set them all so the snares were just touching the floor when setting in the rabbit runs and same again when setting in the actual holes into the warrens

 

I didn't have the correct wire so I stripped down some old twin and earth cable I had in the garage and used the copper strand out of this obviously not ideal

 

so can anyone give me some advise as to how to do it properly and also what is the best wire to use and where to buy it from, the good thing is my some cant wait to get out there again I think he really enjoyed crawling around in the dirt and setting the traps he said it was much more fun than his xbox so that in itself is a result for me but a few rabbits today would have been the icing on the cake for him

 

cheers shawn

[kent]

I have never set snares over holes and for rabbits never along a fence or hedge (foxes yes they are different as are hares but only a poacher snares hares). The idea is to get them on the run when they are traveling with some speed hopefully.

If you look at a rabbit run in the grass there is a series of bound marks, it is here I set but some set between placing the snare higher up in the trimmer. The idea is the rabbit is killed by breaking its neck and cannot creep under as it can leaving the burrow.

This is too big a subject to cover on a forum, needing lengthy amounts of text and pictures. Even better is being shown hands on. Done incorrectly its a cruel and mostly ineffective method, done well its effective and humane literally as different as night and day.

I intend to teach my own girls one day in case the need is ever there for them in their futures to know how but at present it is not required as it seems to be a diminishing skill, don't watch the weirdo survivalists on U-tube most of them have never run snares outside of fantasy Zombie land.

100 correctly set snares on the right ground could be figured to produce up to a 50% return but that ground is rare and the knowledge to demonstrate is rarer still.

Comercial rabbit snares are available and there are books on the subject George Hogg ("pester" from the old shooting news) and the Warrener have both covered the subject in the past in written works

[FatFreddysCat]

Set the snares well out in the field away from the holes. On the runs you will see hop marks. Set the snares between these marks one hand high. Avoid touching the run. Make sure there is no stock in the field.

[r1steele]

I have never set snares over holes and for rabbits never along a fence or hedge (foxes yes they are different as are hares but only a poacher snares hares). The idea is to get them on the run when they are traveling with some speed hopefully.

If you look at a rabbit run in the grass there is a series of bound marks, it is here I set but some set between placing the snare higher up in the trimmer. The idea is the rabbit is killed by breaking its neck and cannot creep under as it can leaving the burrow.

This is too big a subject to cover on a forum, needing lengthy amounts of text and pictures. Even better is being shown hands on. Done incorrectly its a cruel and mostly ineffective method, done well its effective and humane literally as different as night and day.

I intend to teach my own girls one day in case the need is ever there for them in their futures to know how but at present it is not required as it seems to be a diminishing skill, don't watch the weirdo survivalists on U-tube most of them have never run snares outside of fantasy Zombie land.

100 correctly set snares on the right ground could be figured to produce up to a 50% return but that ground is rare and the knowledge to demonstrate is rarer still.

Comercial rabbit snares are available and there are books on the subject George Hogg ("pester" from the old shooting news) and the Warrener have both covered the subject in the past in written works

All good advise apart from the highlighted bit. Fox snares are no longer allowed to be set in a position where the fox can become entangled with fixed objects such as fences.

[Dekers]

Lots of places sell complete snare or materials to make them, I don't use them very often and I can't remember where I got mine, it may have been Trapman, but a quick web search will throw up various suppliers.

[bruno22rf]

The electric wire fencing used for sheep (no plastic) is ideal for snares-copper wire will break and can glow in the dark-even the brass ones need to be left outside to weather for a few weeks. As a rough guide your outspread fingers are about the right size ( assuming you have average sized hands) for the loop and you need to have the bottom of the loop at a rabbits chest height. I have never used snares over holes-if the rabbits are feeding nearby and passing under a fence then this is the best place to put the wires

Edited February 23, 2014 by bruno22rf

[r1steele]

The electric wire fencing used for sheep (no plastic) is ideal for snares-copper wire will break and can glow in the dark-even the brass ones need to be left outside to weather for a few weeks. As a rough guide your outspread fingers are about the right size ( assuming you have average sized hands) for the loop and you need to have the bottom of the loop at a rabbits chest height. I have never used snares over holes-if the rabbits are feeding nearby and passing under a fence then this is the best place to put the wires

Best way to weather snares, fox and rabbit, is to leave them in a bucket of water with a couple of tea bags over night. This gives them a quick tarnish and removes anything left on them from the making process. I also do this with any new Fenn's etc.

[pboro shot]

As already said out in the open works best.

I drill a small hole in the peg push the end of the snare loosely into the hole set at 4 fingers high slightly angled back bit hard to explain but once you get it right positioned in the right place there a very usefull tool

you could always come on our trapping and snareing course ,,,, sorry cant beat a free plug

[kent]

Best way to weather snares, fox and rabbit, is to leave them in a bucket of water with a couple of tea bags over night. This gives them a quick tarnish and removes anything left on them from the making process. I also do this with any new Fenn's etc.

Just hang them up someplace once assembled and forget them for a few weeks myself. Used to always wear gloves liberally rubbed in cow dung or sheep muck (especially with foxes)

[kent]

All good advise apart from the highlighted bit. Fox snares are no longer allowed to be set in a position where the fox can become entangled with fixed objects such as fences.

So we are fine with square stock fences and pop holes under stone walls etc because that about all we have here, even the hedges have to be netted in to claim grant money

[r1steele]

So we are fine with square stock fences and pop holes under stone walls etc because that about all we have here, even the hedges have to be netted in to claim grant money

As I said, fox snares must be set so as not to be entangled with anything fixed such as fencing, hedges and posts. runs through stone walls would be ok as long as the fox cannot wrap the wire around anything. A fox snare isn't used to kill foxes (these days) but only to be used to restrain the animal until it can be humanely dispatched. If by any chance someone comes across a fox in a snare that has been entangled with say a fence and it is causing undue suffering you could be in serious trouble. One of the reasons there is a swivel on a fox snare is so the snare cannot twist and lock up. God forbid anyone who accidently catches a non target species and it dies due to the swivel not working due to becoming wrapped around a post or getting tangled in the wire fencing.

[r1steele]

Just hang them up someplace once assembled and forget them for a few weeks myself. Used to always wear gloves liberally rubbed in cow dung or sheep muck (especially with foxes)

Never ever worn gloves but if you can, rub your hands through a molehill or in amongst damp grass/leaves. The trouble with setting snares or traps with the smell of dung on them is the fact that foxes can smell this smell where it shouldn't be, ie 8 inches above the ground. it can (not always) alert the them to the snare.

Edited February 24, 2014 by r1steele

[kent]

Never ever worn gloves but if you can, rub your hands through a molehill or in amongst damp grass/leaves. The trouble with setting snares or traps with the smell of dung on them is the fact that foxes can smell this smell where it shouldn't be, ie 8 inches above the ground. it can (not always) alert the them to the snare.

 

Mmm, a theory. I used to do a massive amount of snaring when pelts were worth good money and farmers didn't have city guys knocking on their doors to shoot foxes on the lamp for free or even pay rent for shooting thier vermin, back then one got bounty and pelt money (shipped rolled and frozen to a furrier down Birmingham way). Never created me an issue, sounds a bit like a fox giving a blade of grass a miss because it had a whiff of cow poop on it, its not submerging them in the stuff so its dripping its just helping/ preventing any human scent from handling the gloves from being detected which I am 100% sure will make a fox go slowly with caution over poopy smell on the wind 6" high, its not like the stuff never gets suspended in the undergrowth anyhow. I suppose they teach that on these new courses though. The fact that a human has previously knelt down there and maybe left a bit of scent behind is far more worrying to them

[Dekers]

I am a regular visitor on many of my sites, the wildlife is used to the smell of me, guns, car, whatever.

 

Wildlife is generally cautious of new smells, or smells it perceives to be a threat, they don't see me as a threat because they don't get a second chance.

 

If anyone seriously believes wearing gloves smothered in cow dung, or mole hill, etc etc is going to disguise your smell you are seriously mistaken, even if you rolled in the stuff and walked in it non stop most wildlife will still pick you up within everything else.

 

ATB!

[r1steele]

I am a regular visitor on many of my sites, the wildlife is used to the smell of me, guns, car, whatever.

 

Wildlife is generally cautious of new smells, or smells it perceives to be a threat, they don't see me as a threat because they don't get a second chance.

 

If anyone seriously believes wearing gloves smothered in cow dung, or mole hill, etc etc is going to disguise your smell you are seriously mistaken, even if you rolled in the stuff and walked in it non stop most wildlife will still pick you up within everything else.

 

ATB!

When your working on grouse moors vermin is not used to a hell of a lot of human smells so you do everything you can to make your own scent as hard to get as possible. Some of these foxes haven't been anywhere near human contact so they won't be used to certain smells so you 'try' to hide them. My old head keeper took me out many years ago and we set traps and snares, some with clean hands and some with dirty hands as this was his way of teaching his young keepers fieldcraft. There is a difference.

Edited February 24, 2014 by r1steele

[kent]

I am a regular visitor on many of my sites, the wildlife is used to the smell of me, guns, car, whatever.

 

Wildlife is generally cautious of new smells, or smells it perceives to be a threat, they don't see me as a threat because they don't get a second chance.

 

If anyone seriously believes wearing gloves smothered in cow dung, or mole hill, etc etc is going to disguise your smell you are seriously mistaken, even if you rolled in the stuff and walked in it non stop most wildlife will still pick you up within everything else.

 

ATB!

 

I feel you are quite correct as a dog can pick up its owners scent through the bottom of his boot soles and follow it for miles, its more about confidence .like I say I wore gloves then knelt down to set the thing.

Scent though is a funny thing though I have seen foxes play with the hounds when they full well knew it was a bad scenting day and gundogs with proven great nose fail to pick an easy bird all because it lay in a dead spot scent wise until they were right on top of it and I recon a fox has twice the nose of a domestic dog

[r1steele]

 

Mmm, a theory. I used to do a massive amount of snaring when pelts were worth good money and farmers didn't have city guys knocking on their doors to shoot foxes on the lamp for free or even pay rent for shooting thier vermin, back then one got bounty and pelt money (shipped rolled and frozen to a furrier down Birmingham way). Never created me an issue, sounds a bit like a fox giving a blade of grass a miss because it had a whiff of cow poop on it, its not submerging them in the stuff so its dripping its just helping/ preventing any human scent from handling the gloves from being detected which I am 100% sure will make a fox go slowly with caution over poopy smell on the wind 6" high, its not like the stuff never gets suspended in the undergrowth anyhow. I suppose they teach that on these new courses though. The fact that a human has previously knelt down there and maybe left a bit of scent behind is far more worrying to them

This is not what is taught on some new course, it was some thing my old headkeeper done many years ago and the way my father was taught when he was a youngster (he was also a keeper). Yes, the wind on open fell/moor will throw scent all over but if you are in woodland the smell of dung shouldn't be there and foxes know this. Just a quick question Kent, are you setting your snares 6" high or were you just using that measurement as a general height for scent moving around?

[kent]

When your working on grouse moors vermin is not used to a hell of a lot of human smells so you do everything you can to make your own scent as hard to get as possible. Some of these foxes haven't been anywhere human contact so they won't be used to certain smells so you 'try' to hide them. My old head keeper took me out many years ago and we set traps and snares, some with clean hands and some with dirty hands as this was his way of teaching his young keepers fieldcraft. There is a difference.

 

I am sure foxes have inherited fear of man in these locations, even the youngest cubs will take fright and go underground if they wind you. The difference might well be confidence or rather lack of it when you have clean hands, if it gives me confidence I shall still do it like you should. Its an interesting subject but I doubt it possible to prove definites. For example we know from previous that Dekers kills habituated town / urbanised foxes that likely get fed and scavange from human waste (bins etc)

[r1steele]

 

I am sure foxes have inherited fear of man in these locations, even the youngest cubs will take fright and go underground if they wind you. The difference might well be confidence or rather lack of it when you have clean hands, if it gives me confidence I shall still do it like you should. Its an interesting subject but I doubt it possible to prove definites. For example we know from previous that Dekers kills habituated town / urbanised foxes that likely get fed and scavange from human waste (bins etc)

Like you say it all depends on the environment you are trying to catch foxes in. Years ago it wasn't uncommon to tie a handful of oil/diesel soaked rags around release pens as a deterrent for vermin. Now, in most places they will come across all sorts of chemicals and fuels all over the place. Urban foxes will be used to human scent but may never have had the smell of sheep dung (or moles) up there noses. When my father started keepering, all his work was done on foot but now I would say 99% of keepers use 4x4 etc. All these things do make a difference.

[kent]

This is not what is taught on some new course, it was some thing my old headkeeper done many years ago and the way my father was taught when he was a youngster (he was also a keeper). Yes, the wind on open fell/moor will throw scent all over but if you are in woodland the smell of dung shouldn't be there and foxes know this. Just a quick question Kent, are you setting your snares 6" high or were you just using that measurement as a general height for scent moving around?

 

Regards reference rough height of the scent nothing to do with the bottom of the loop. Height of fox snare should pertain to were the fox is passing squeezing under a pop hole it will be lower than passing a Choke point on a sheep track were the fox will be standing at full height. Its been over 20yrs from when I regularly put wires out, times have changed much as to were and how you can do this, the keeper next door does a full risk assessment before setting his snares the Old farmers here recount the old keeper many,many years ago now who used to add poison to any roadkill he saw, actually turning up in the pub with a vile in his shirt pocket. Back then such things were legal. There was a guy employed by the FC to kill the forest foxes by snaring in the main, the local hunt lost a hound to one and doubtless some lost their dogs, these things were done once over but now a thing of the past

[r1steele]

 

Regards reference rough height of the scent nothing to do with the bottom of the loop. Height of fox snare should pertain to were the fox is passing squeezing under a pop hole it will be lower than passing a Choke point on a sheep track were the fox will be standing at full height. Its been over 20yrs from when I regularly put wires out, times have changed much as to were and how you can do this, the keeper next door does a full risk assessment before setting his snares the Old farmers here recount the old keeper many,many years ago now who used to add poison to any roadkill he saw, actually turning up in the pub with a vile in his shirt pocket. Back then such things were legal. There was a guy employed by the FC to kill the forest foxes by snaring in the main, the local hunt lost a hound to one and doubtless some lost their dogs, these things were done once over but now a thing of the past

I was only asking because the way things are at the moment, if someone comes across a snare set a bit on the low side it can be classed as possibly setting snares for non target species. It's a hard thing to prove but not a position anyone would want to be in if things went pear shaped. I wasn't trying to criticize, just asking.

[Dekers]

When your working on grouse moors vermin is not used to a hell of a lot of human smells so you do everything you can to make your own scent as hard to get as possible. Some of these foxes haven't been anywhere near human contact so they won't be used to certain smells so you 'try' to hide them. My old head keeper took me out many years ago and we set traps and snares, some with clean hands and some with dirty hands as this was his way of teaching his young keepers fieldcraft. There is a difference.

 

Fair comment and definitely worth a try in some situations!

[r1steele]

 

Fair comment and definitely worth a try in some situations!

I sometimes forget (as do a lot of people) my type of environment can differ massively from others. There are probably more foxes shot in the UK that are near to suburban areas than are shot in truly remote ones. It's all down to the environment you are in. Farmyard smells in the middle of London are going to alert a fox way more than the smell of normal human smells (soap, de-odorants etc)

[kent]

I sometimes forget (as do a lot of people) my type of environment can differ massively from others. There are probably more foxes shot in the UK that are near to suburban areas than are shot in truly remote ones. It's all down to the environment you are in. Farmyard smells in the middle of London are going to alert a fox way more than the smell of normal human smells (soap, de-odorants etc)

 

Bang on environment matters a lot, I have shot over a dozen foxes in a single night lamping unkeepered yet game rich ground in Scotland etc. (used to wait over a gralloch expecting to shoot at least one before it got too dark. Had many a good numbers session on farmland near town although now live surrounded by well keepered ground if I shot a dozen in a month or even two or three months some keeper might get a proper full on warning from his boss. We also have three gun packs working the area, foxes here have to be canny here to last a full year