To rid an area of unwanted visitors such as rats, squirrels or hares, you can use a humane trap to catch them. It allows you to catch an animal without harming it, and then release it somewhere far away.
Materials:
- plastic pipe 100 mm;
- plug 100 mm;
- coupling 100 mm;
- door hinge;
- tin;
- steel clamp 100 mm;
- plastic pipe 1/2 inch';
- plywood;
- thick wire;
- rail 20x20 mm;
- Neodymium magnets.
Trap assembly process
For the trap body, you need to prepare a 100 mm piece of pipe with an approximate length of 60 cm. To catch large animals, you need to use a 150-200 mm pipe. A standard plug is glued onto it on one side.
A hinged door is installed on the remaining edge. It is cut out of tin.
Its width should be greater than the diameter of the pipe, and the bottom should be made flat and not rounded. Holes are drilled in the door for air access.
The door hinge is then screwed or glued to the opposite edge of the relatively smooth edge. The second half of the loop is applied to the pipe and pulled to it with a clamp.
Neodymium magnets are glued inside the pipe along the junction line of the bottom of the door. They will allow it not to bounce when slammed.
The base of the trap is cut out of plywood, approximately 20-25 cm wide and 80 cm long. Offset by 10 cm from the center, you need to make a bed in it to balance the trap. To do this, you need to prepare 4 pieces of 20x20 mm slats, 5 cm long. They are screwed across the center of the plywood in 2 rows. In this case, a gap of 17 mm is maintained between the rows. A self-tapping screw is screwed between the slats at the edges of the plywood. The projection of their caps should be 5-10 mm.
Then the trap axis is inserted into the stock. It consists of a coupling cut lengthwise for a 100 mm pipe. A 1/2-inch piece of PP or PVC tube is screwed to it with self-tapping screws. The axle is made so wide that its edges do not reach the limiting screws in the stock. Then the trap body is snapped onto the cut-off axle coupling in the center.
On the side of the door you need to screw a blocking strip to the bottom. It is placed close to the door. As a result, when the body of the trap is pressed against the sole, the door cannot open until weight is transferred to the end with the plug.
A stand must be secured in front of the locking rail to support the door in the open position. It is a piece of wire bent at a right angle. To fix it to the plywood, a loop is bent at one end, and the wire is screwed to the sole through it with a self-tapping screw. The height of the stand is 100 mm.
To alert the trap, you need to place bait in the pipe closer to the plug.
The door is then secured to the post in the open position.
The trap is adjusted so that when weight is applied to the plug, it is lifted on the axis enough to allow the door to slide off the holder.
In this case, when the animal goes inside to get the bait, it will shift its center of gravity with its weight and the door will slam shut.
