How to Make a Net Trap for a Rabbit

Rabbits are usually easy pray for traps. Most live in large underground burrows and make use of well-worn runs or trails between the burrow and food and water sources. Rabbits can be caught using an assortment of traps. Traps using nets that snare the rabbit and take it up off the ground, called spring snares, are some of the more useful snares because they keep the rabbits from struggling out of the trap and keep other predators from stealing the caught rabbit.

Things You'll Need

  • Knife
  • Cord
  • Hammer
  • Net
  • 12- to 18-inch piece of wood
  • 8- to 12-inch piece of wood
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Instructions

    • 1

      Locate a rabbit run. Find a natural bottleneck on the run, or make one. A bottleneck occurs when the run goes through rocks, fallen trees, or other obstacles, narrowing the trail. Make a bottle neck by pilling fallen logs and rocks around the edges of a run.

    • 2

      Locate a sapling tree near the bottleneck. The tree should strong enough to lift a rabbit off the ground and tall enough to keep the rabbit out of the reach of predators. Bend the tree over the bottleneck and attach a length of cord long enough to reach the ground.

    • 3

      Cut a trigger bar and an anchor bar from spare pieces of wood. The upright bar is a piece of notched wood that is hammered into the ground near the bottleneck. It should be 12 to 18 inches long. The trigger bar is a piece of notched wood attached to the sapling that fits into the anchor and, when moved, releases the tension on the sapling. It should be 8 to 12 inches long. The notches can be any size and shape, but are usually shallow rectangular notches that lightly fit into each other. The trigger bar must keep the sapling taught above the trap, but must disengage when a rabbit enters the net.

    • 4

      Hammer the anchor bar into the ground near the bottleneck. Lash the cord on the sapling to the other trigger bar. Set the trigger bar by attaching the two bars. When set, the trigger bar should hold the sapling in a bent position.

    • 5

      Lay the net on the ground. Tie lengths of cord to all sides of the net. Attach these cords to the central cord on the sapling so that the edges of the net are about one inch off the ground. When a rabbit runs over the net their movement should be enough to trigger the trap, releasing the sapling and securing the rabbit in the net from a tree.