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 33 leg-hold trap DHJanzen100906.jpg high resolution
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| The iron leg-hold front foot beaver trap in place below the bundle of bait twigs on a pole like the one in image DHJanzen100906.jpg above, ready for insertion below the ice. The trap is actually a very small trap, one that is normally used for much lighter animals like foxes or racoons. An adult beaver would often be able to pull its front foot (and definitely a hind foot) out of the trap. However, it has been modified by welding a row of nails to a strip of soft band iron and then wiring this to the trap jaw, so that when the trap closes, one of the nails punches through the foot and keeps it from being pulled out of the jaws of the trap. This invention allowed carrying many more (much lighter) traps much further on a longer trap line than would have been feasible with standard larger and heavier (and more expensive) beaver traps. And this is why I learned how to use the arc-welder in the machine shop in the University of Minnesota after hours on weekends. Universities are wonderful places, full of the strangest gadgets. | ||
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