Snares and Nooses: Wire, Cord, and Plant Fiber Trapping Systems
The snare is the minimal-resource trap. It requires no heavy components, no elaborate construction, and can be made from wire, cord, plant fiber, or any flexible material available in the field. Gibson's treatment of snares covers two dozen variants from the crude to the sophisticated, but all operate on the same principle: a loop that tightens around an animal's neck or foot when it moves through it.
Materials and Loop Construction
The choice of snare material determines what the snare can hold and how long it will remain functional in the field.
Wire snares are Gibson's preferred material for serious trapping — he specifies No. 18 to No. 20 gauge wire for rabbit and similar small game. Wire holds its loop shape without support, withstands weather, and provides the strength needed for larger animals. The trade-off: wire is a manufactured item you must carry. In a preparedness context, a spool of 24-gauge stainless steel wire weighing under a pound can be configured into dozens of snares.
Cordage snares use braided cord, twine, or plant fiber. They are available in most natural environments but tend to relax their loop shape and require support to hold position. Gibson recommends cordage snares for birds and small animals where the loop can be supported by surrounding vegetation.
Plant fiber cordage can be improvised from dogbane (Indian hemp), stinging nettle fibers, or basswood bark — all materials Gibson describes in other sections of the book. Improvised cordage is rarely as strong as commercial cord but is functional for small game snares. The construction of a proper self-tightening loop from plant fiber requires more material and skill than wire, but the knowledge that it is possible is itself valuable.
The Self-Locking Loop
A snare loop must close tighter as the animal pulls, not come apart. Wire snares achieve this by passing the running end of the wire through a small loop twisted in the standing end — the classic slip noose. For cordage, a simple bowline on a bight gives a fixed loop; for a self-tightening version, use a running bowline. Test your loop construction before setting: it should close smoothly with 1-2 ounce tension and hold securely under 10-20 pounds.
The Twitch-Up Snare: Power and Reset
The most versatile design Gibson documents is the twitch-up — a ground snare attached to a bent sapling that springs upright when the snare is triggered, lifting the animal off the ground and holding it there.
The twitch-up serves two functions that a simple ground snare does not. First, the lifting action tightens the noose much more forcefully than the animal's own movement in a ground snare — the spring provides the killing force rather than depending on the animal to strangle itself. Second, by lifting the catch off the ground, it prevents other predators from stealing it before the trapper returns.
Construction: Select a live sapling 4-6 feet tall with sufficient spring to lift your target animal. Bend it down toward the snare position and keep it bent by engaging a notched peg driven into the ground. The trigger arrangement — described in Gibson's five setting diagrams — uses interlocking notched stakes that release when the snare loop closes around the animal's neck or leg. The spring pole then snaps upright.
Set the snare loop at the correct height:
- Rabbits: loop bottom at 4 inches above the runway, loop diameter 4 inches
- Squirrels on a log crossing: loop bottom just above the log surface, diameter 3 inches
- Grouse and other large birds: loop bottom at 2 inches above the ground, diameter 6 inches
Check Snares Every 12-24 Hours
Snares left unattended catch animals that may suffer prolonged before dying, attract predators that steal the catch, or lose catches to escapes as the animal's struggles eventually loosen the noose. Gibson recommends checking snares daily in his professional system. In a survival context, check every 12-24 hours. A snare line of 10-15 properly positioned snares, checked daily, can provide reliable small game procurement.
The Triangle Snare: Funneling and Guiding
Animals moving along game trails are often reluctant to pass through a noose set simply in their path. The triangle snare solves this problem by creating a funnel that guides the animal into the loop.
Three sticks are pushed into the ground in a triangle pattern, with the snare loop hung between two of them across the forward opening. The third stick, at the back of the triangle, forces the animal to lower its head to pass under it, threading its neck into the hanging loop. The animal walks into the triangle, the back stick prevents it from backing out cleanly, and the snare tightens as it attempts to exit.
This design is particularly effective on well-used rabbit runs through brush. Rabbits tend to use established paths and will move through the triangle without hesitation if it is positioned directly on their runway with natural vegetation closing off the sides.
Hedge Nooses and Trail Systems
Gibson documents a systematic approach to snare deployment that treats a trap line as a yield-maximizing system rather than a collection of individual traps. The key insights:
Establish artificial funnels. Brush lightly piled on both sides of a snare narrows the available path through a gap, making the snare essentially unavoidable for animals using that route. The animal doesn't see the snare as a threat — it sees a gap in obstacles and moves through naturally.
Exploit natural funnels. Stream crossings (animals following one bank cross where logs span the water), ridge saddles (animals moving between drainages cross at the lowest point), and gaps in deadfall are free funnel traps already created by terrain. A snare placed correctly in these locations catches every animal using that feature.
Use multiple snares in sequence. A single snare across a rabbit trail will catch some animals but will be investigated and avoided by others after the first catch. Placing three snares within 10 feet of each other on the same trail ensures that an animal that avoids the first encounters the second or third.
Snare Wire as Emergency Currency
Among experienced wilderness travelers and preppers, snare wire is considered one of the highest-value items per ounce in any emergency kit. A 50-foot spool of 24-gauge stainless steel wire weighs 2 ounces and can produce 8-10 functional snares capable of catching rabbits and squirrels — the most available small game in most of North America. Add a small roll to any emergency kit.
The Poacher's Snare: Refinement for Wariness
Wild animals that have encountered traps develop wariness — they investigate unfamiliar objects before passing them and recognize the signs of human presence (foreign scents, disturbed soil, unnatural materials). Gibson addresses this in his treatment of the Poacher's Snare, a refined wire snare specifically designed to reduce detection signals.
The key modifications:
- Support the loop using the surrounding vegetation rather than inserted stakes — the loop hangs from a bent branch or is supported by forked twigs already in the animal's path, rather than from materials visibly introduced to the site
- Use wire aged or treated to remove metallic shine — dragging through mud or applying a leaf mold coating
- Approach the set from downwind, minimize soil disturbance, and restore disturbed vegetation to its natural appearance
- Leave the set undisturbed for at least 24-48 hours after placement before expecting results — animal wariness diminishes as the new-object response fades
Gibson notes that this level of refinement is primarily relevant to professional trappers seeking maximum yield. In a survival situation, the additional effort is justified for specific wary animals (red fox, coyote) but unnecessary for most small game.
Bird Nooses and Quail Traps
The book's extensive treatment of bird trapping techniques reflects the 19th-century reality that birds were a significant food source — a reality that remains true in survival situations. Gibson's bird snare designs are simple and effective.
The quail noose is a small loop of horsehair or light cord staked in a running series along a game trail. Each noose is approximately 2 inches in diameter and staked 1 inch above the ground. Birds walking along the trail pass through the nooses, stepping into them with one foot. The stake prevents the bird from walking away with the noose attached.
A line of 20-30 quail nooses covering 10-15 feet of trail costs almost nothing to make and maintain and can produce consistent results during quail season when flocks are moving along established routes. Gibson recommends using horsehair because its natural color and texture are invisible on bare ground, but any light, stiff cordage will work.