The Visual Element

I’m staring at a clump of sod on the west side of a two-track farm lane. Generally, the berm is mowed off, and this clump of sod stands at the edge of the crop line where the mower missed it.

It’s a good solid clump of sod, about as big as a soccer ball. It stands out against the crowd. Sometimes we tend to skip over some basic elements of set construction. I think visual attraction is one of them — particularly in regards to foothold traps.

Despite the introduction, let’s start with a set that really doesn’t function on visual attraction, aptly named the blind set. Simply stated, you place the trap where the animal has already determined to go. An example might be a trail set. The animal is following the trail. But here the critter’s attention really isn’t focused on anything — or is it? Maybe the trail itself is the visual attraction. If you think not, set your trap outside the trail and see how many critters you catch.

Back to the reality of the situation, while the trail itself may provide some visual stimulation, it doesn’t give you much to focus the animal into your trap. Maybe that’s why snares and bodygrip traps work quite well in trail sets. Those devices depend on the animal going through them as they walk down the trail.

By the same token, setting a foothold trap in that situation could require a little extra visual stimulation. While it is acceptable to just set a foothold trap in the trail and “hope” a critter steps into it, I prefer a slightly less haphazard approach.

I’ll lay a small stick across the trail, just outside the trap. That is visual stimulation. When a critter sees that stick, it steps over it, and that’s where my trap is. You can used two sticks if you like, one on each side of the trap. But ordinarily one will do. A critter coming from one direction steps over the stick and into the trap. A critter coming from the other direction, places its foot to step over the sick and lands right on to the trap pan.