TRAPPING.
Rabbits are easily trapped or snared, and while these methods of taking them are slow, they are always feasible when cottontails infest woodlot, orchard, nursery, field, or garden. Many are caught in old-fashioned box traps set with a figure-4 trigger with cord attached to hold up the box lid.
An improvement on this familiar trap, widely used in the Middle West, and often called the Wellhouse[3] trap, is a box 21 inches long and about 6 inches high and 4 inches wide (inside measurements) made of 6-inch fence boards, preferably old ones. The box is closed at the rear and has a wire door in front which swings inward from the top, a cleat at the bottom preventing its opening outward. The trap is set and the wire door kept open by a wire trigger-rod held in place by two staples in the top of the box. The trigger-rod is bent downward into a loop or figure 8 near the rear of the trap. As the rabbit enters the trap and crowds into the back part it presses against the loop, moves the trigger-rod backward and is imprisoned as the wire door is released and falls. Bait may be used but is unnecessary, since cottontails frequently take refuge in dark places from enemies or inclement weather.
[3] After the late Mr. Fred Wellhouse, of Topeka, Kans.
Fig. 3.—Details of a Wellhouse rabbit trap.
The materials needed for making a Wellhouse trap are: Four boards 1 by 6, 21 inches long, for the sides; a piece 1 by 6, 8 inches long, for the back; a small cleat for the door stop; 28-1/2 inches of wire for the door; 22 inches of wire for the trigger; 4 small staples for hanging the door and trigger; and nails (fig. 3).
Fig. 4.—Cross section of a Walmsley tile trap for rabbits.
Mr. J. M. Walmsley recently sent to the department photographs and a description of a permanent rabbit trap made of sewer tile and used on his and other farms in Kansas (fig. 4). A 12 by 6 inch "tee" is set with the long end downward and buried so that the 6-inch opening is below the surface of the ground. Two lengths of 6-inch sewer pipe are then connected horizontally with the opening. Soil is placed over the joints to exclude light. The upright tile should be fitted with a tight removable cover—Mr. Walmsley uses old harrow disks for the purpose. The projecting end of the small tile is surrounded with rocks, brush, or wood, so as to make the hole look inviting to rabbits (fig. 5), and that they may appropriate the den as a place of concealment and shelter. A number of these traps in various places, and especially in the vicinity of the orchard, have kept Mr. Walmsley's farm comparatively free of rabbits. Rabbits occupy these tile traps, go in or out at will, and may be captured when desired. Whenever Mr. Walmsley visits his traps he is accompanied by a trained dog that locates the trapped animals. The cover is lifted from the upright tile and the rabbit captured by hand; if it bolts from the side opening it is caught by the dog. A short pole fitted with a 5-inch wooden disk may be inserted in the side opening to prevent escape.
Fig. 5.—A Walmsley tile trap in use.
These traps are especially suitable for open lands and prairies, where rabbits can not find many natural hiding places. Built on waste land, they may become a permanent part of the farm equipment and will cost nothing for repairs from year to year. Their first cost may be greatly reduced by use of second-grade or even broken tiles. If one wishes to poison rabbits, the baits may be placed inside these traps and domestic animals or birds will not be endangered. The Walmsley trap also furnishes an excellent means of obtaining rabbits for the table or even for market without damaging them by shooting.