Traditional wooden rabbit traps

So I've been on a trap building kick the last week. I don't know what's wrong with me but I'll get in the mood to build something get the idea in my head and I'll just build it. Well being wanting to build some small cage traps. Really enjoy building cages for some reason. I'll modify foot holds build snares drags ect all day but I don't know something is just super satisfying about seeing that trigger mechanism fire off just right and see a door drop. Well made some powdered two door wire triggered squirrel traps out of steel mesh wire and aluminum, that was kinda easy.
Then I was looking around and saw pictures of these old wooden rabbit traps never made one of those before and seemed like the original designs could be tweaked and refined. Not that the didn't work. Just alot of extras. So after some YouTube and Google came up with this little deal
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Saw a guy on YouTube redid the pans so there off set and one side is heavier so it resets it the trigger rod. All you goo do is pus the door in and the trigger rod self sets. Pretty nice. Also put a wire back on it so it better ventilation not to mention it let's me see if I could a skunk or not lol. That and the top is hinged so I can get my rabbit out easier.

Well made that one half decent and a buddy on FB who traps armadillo alot asked if I could make a double door version. Apparently wooden traps catch better with armadillos just like rabbits. Something about the scent from the last animal caught soaking into the wood and acting as a natural attraction . Aslo with armadillos your usually trapping them with the use of drift fencing and a double door just works better because you don't know what side they can be coming from.
So I had some extra wood left over and there a trigger mechanism guys in WA use in there cages all the time I though would work with some tweaking so after a little bit of cutting and drilling I got this little gal
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It's not super light at all lol but I doubt the bigger version made out of 1x12's will be lol.

Anyhow I know the fourm is full of older folk and I figured alot of y'all have probably built traps like these and my enjoy seeing someone my age building them so hope y'all find it interesting lol

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NICE ones!

Our old rabbit traps used a different trip system, as well as a different door system.

Basically, a wooden box like you built. No wire back, all wood.
We'd drill a hole in the top of the box, about 1/2"-3/4" dia. towards the rear, about 2'-3" from the back wall. That's for the trip stick.
Next,, the doorway was "slotted" in a way to allow the door to drop from above, and when in place, not be able to go forward or backward. (Usually, the top board was about 1"-2" shorter than the bottom & side boards, with a small 1/2" piece added for the drop door slot. Same 1/2" sized pieces were added to the sides as the slot for the drop door.)

To make the activator, a hole was drilled in the top, 1/2 way between ends. A forked stick was cut & wedged in the hole, fork up.
A straight stick, attached to the door, and long enough to reach all the way between the door & the trip trigger stick hole was added. A straight piece of wood was used as the trip stick. We'd measure the inside dimension of our box, from floor to ceiling, usually about 6", and cut a stick about 6-1/2"-7" long. About 5" up from the bottom, we'd notch the stick to where it's hook on the inside of the rear hole, when inserted through it. We'd tie the short trigger stick to the long stick that was attached to the door. place it all in the fork, which was the pivot point.
When set, the trigger stick was mostly inside the box, and the door sat above the box. When a rabbit went in to eat the bait, it'd push the trigger stick to where it's slip off the edge of the hole, allowing the weight of the door to fall.

I haven't had to make any of those things in a long time.

And, your design allows to "check" for surprise catches,, such as skunks. I can see that adding the wire at the rear is an improvement. I also like the top opening design,, except that some critters might escape easier.

I trapped a nuisance armadillo for a neighbor using a hav-a-hart trap as armadillos will generally not climb over a 4x4
I made a V shaped funnel with the 4x4's and lined the screen floor with mulch.
Next morning we had our digger!

Brings back memories of the childhood trapping days!

Wolfdog, you are an ambitious creative guy. Good for you.

I’ve never seen that trigger mechanism before. Thanks for sharing that sir. I make one when I was a kid, I can’t remember now if I caught a bunny or not.

On the double, if you put a wire divider in the center, you could catch two.

Caught far more skunks than rabbits in those things growing up!

"Caught far more skunks than rabbits in those things growing up! "

You were using the wrong bait. :D

What bait? Ours are too smart for traping. We've tried carrots but they aren't Bugs Bunny. Seriously what works?

I'd look into the local wild food that they prefer in your area. Then,, find a good patch of that,, and pick young tender shoots of that stuff.
(Locally,, they like clover.) Then, I mix fresh kale,, with that.
Or, you can ask the local gardeners what's being eaten the most at this time,, and see about picking some young, tender shoots of that stuff.

Thanks contender, I'll have to start observing a little better. In our subdivision, I think that is the neighbors flowers or the grass in my back yard. I have an area about 5 feet around with all the grass grazed down and full of rabbit pellet. They seem to like living under my atv trailer on the concrete pad and eating the insulation off my break wires. I think I might get shot if I go after her flowers.:)

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Originally Posted by contender1

"Caught far more skunks than rabbits in those things growing up! "

You were using the wrong bait. :D

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We never baited them, rabbits just naturally have to check out a hollow log, I'm guessing skunks do as well!

Awesome Post !
Brought back memories of the wooden traps my older cousin would make ...and teach me to make .
Caught more squirrels than anything ... and a few Blue Jay's ...

You put a smile on face again ... Thanks for Posting !
Gary

Wolfdog, as always your an interesting young man. Thanks for the post, really enjoyed it.

When we had chicken houses, had skunks get under the well house. Used a Havahart live trap. Caught 4 skunks and one armadillo. All were caught between 10 pm and about 8 am. Shot the skunks from around the corner of the well house. The armadillo was dead when I found it. I had heard that an armadillo will jump about 3 feet high when startled, maybe he broke his neck when the door sprung down.

As a kid I built mine like Contender1 said. Then I saw he is from NC too. Maybe it is the Tarheel version? Anyway I found I caught more with a wood enclosed back end opposed to a wire enclosed backend.

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Originally Posted by Minerat

What bait? Ours are too smart for traping. We've tried carrots but they aren't Bugs Bunny. Seriously what works?

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I have good luck with apple slices for rabbits but you will also attract coons and possums. Cherries or boiled eggs for skunks.

melon rind with a bit of melon still attached ive found quite effective for all kinds of wild critters