Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 4: Catching rabbits with a simple snare
• Method 2 of 4: Catching rabbits in a trap
• Method 3 of 4: Catching rabbits with a self-built small mammal trap
• Method 4 of 4: Catch rabbits with a box
• Tips
• Necessities

Wild rabbits are quite a nuisance in a lot of areas and population thinning is often good for the environment and even the rabbit population. The European rabbit is native to the southern mainland of Europe and was the first to be exported as a food source by the Romans who brought it to Britain. Unfortunately, the British then re-exported it to, among other places, Australia where the rabbits put a lot of pressure on the local ecosystem. In the Americas, they have their own genus, the cottontail rabbit.

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Method 1 of 4: Catching rabbits with a simple snare

1. For best results, find a natural opening on a path that rabbits use. It's best to place your snare on a path that rabbits often use, otherwise you just have to hope that a rabbit will just appear in your trap. Placing your trap on a rabbit path also ensures that there are rabbits near your snare.
   • In winter it is easier to find a natural opening on a rabbit path. Just look for rabbit tracks in the snow to find out which trails they follow.
2. Cut down a tree branch or small tree to help the rabbits walk into your trap. You can use all types of trees for this as long as they have side branches. After you cut down the tree or branch, make a hole about 12 inches wide in the center by cutting all the branches away from there.
   • Make sure the tree or branch you are using is big enough. Rabbits are not very strong or big, but if you use a branch that is too small, they can sometimes drag it along. And that makes it more difficult to catch the rabbit.
3. Place the branch over the rabbit path with the hole in the center of the path. The cut branches ensure that the rabbit is automatically guided to the center and straight into your trap.
4. Stick small pieces of wood into the ground next to the trap. This should be especially where the rabbit might slip past your snare.
5. Make a small loop at the end of a piece of iron wire. Make a 3-centimeter loop about 3 inches from the end of the wire. Leave a hole open and then wrap the end of the thread four or five times around the length of thread under the loop.
   • If you don't have thin iron wire, you can also use sturdy rope. You have to remember that rabbits can bite through rope, so wire is a more humane way to kill rabbits.
6. Cut the other end of the wire about two feet away.
7. Put the cut end of the thread through the small loop to make a kind of noose. If the rabbit then gets caught in the snare, it will get tighter as the rabbit struggles more and so the rabbit will be strangled. This is how this snare works.
8. Attach the end of the wire to the tree or branch that you have placed over the path. Secure the thread by twisting it a few times around the tree and then tie another knot around the thread to make sure it really stays in place.
   • How far should the noose be from the ground? Opinions differ on this, but it is recommended to hang the noose between 10 and 15 centimeters above the ground. If your thread is too short to attach the bow to the branch or tree and hang it at that height, you will need to redo the bow with more thread.
   • Also make sure that the noose is exactly in the middle of the trap. If it is a little to the side, it makes it a lot more difficult to catch a rabbit.
9. Stick two sticks in an X shape in the ground under the trap. This will keep the rabbit from slipping underneath.
10. Mark the location of your trap with a red piece of cloth and check the trap every day. If you don't check the trap often enough, your rabbit could be eaten by a fox or bird before you catch it yourself.

Method 2 of 4: Catching rabbits in a trap

1. Dig a big enough hole. It depends a bit on the size of the rabbit you want to catch, but your hole should still be about a meter deep and wide. The deeper your hole is, the harder it is for the rabbit to climb out.
   • Dig your hole in the middle of a rabbit trail or anywhere else you think rabbits are a lot. If you don't make your trap in the middle of a path, you will have to lure the rabbit with bait.
2. Collect a number of sticks that are just a bit longer than the pit. The length of the sticks is very important. If they are too big, they will not break if a rabbit walks over them. If they are too small, you will not be able to make a fall. Collect three or four sticks and place them over the hole.
3. Then place a number of very small twigs at right angles to the sticks. Try to make it a kind of gate. Three or four sticks in one direction and a bunch of twigs in the other direction.
4. Cover the canes by carefully covering them with a layer of dead leaves.
5. Then cover those leaves with soil so that the trap resembles the rest of the soil. Make sure that the trap really blends in with the environment. Try to collect old soil so that there is no freshly excavated soil on top of the trap.
6. Place some bait on top of the trap (optional). Place some corn, carrots or other vegetables on top of the trap to lure the rabbit there. Place the bait in the middle of the trap, so that the rabbit really has to walk up the trap to get to it and thereby fall into the hole.
7. Mark the location with a red piece of cloth and check the trap every day. Mark the trap so it is easy to find. Also remember to check the trap every day so that if you catch it, the rabbit does not suffer unnecessarily.

Method 3 of 4: Catching rabbits with a self-built small mammal trap

1. Buy a living trap. A live trap consists of a trap door, a trap mechanism and a pulley. You can buy them on the internet or in some stores. They are used to capture animals without killing them.
2. Put food on the mechanism. Corn, carrots, vegetables or pieces of bread will all lure the rabbit to the trap. Then the trap will be activated and the rabbit will be caught.
   • Place the food properly on the mechanism. If you don't put it down properly, the trap may not activate and the rabbit will escape with a full stomach.
3. Open the door and secure it to set the trap. Follow the instructions that come with the trap to get it ready. Check if the trap works by tapping the mechanism with a long stick. If the trap doesn't work, you have to set it up differently.
4. Check often to see if a rabbit is trapped. A rabbit cannot hurt itself in a trap, but it is still humane not to let them sit in it for too long. So check the trap at least every 24 hours.
5. Do whatever you want to do to the rabbit after you catch it. Do wear protective gloves if you have caught a rabbit. Rabbits usually don't hurt anyone, but they may try to bite you to get free.

Method 4 of 4: Catch rabbits with a box

1. Make a rabbit house from a cardboard box. The box must be less than a meter in size. Cut out the bottom of the box and place the box outside.
2. Chop off a branch that is neither too heavy nor too long. Do not hang the branch much higher than a meter. Tie the other end of the branch to something else. Then, in the center of the branch, tie a rope about seven inches long.
3. Make two holes in the top of the box. Thread the rope through one of those two holes.
4. Remove the rope from the box. Put your hand in the box and pull the rope back up through the other hole. Hang your box in an area where not many people go. Take your hand out of the box and then tie the piece of string you put out through the box around the other piece of string and secure it with three knots.
5. Tie a piece of yarn three inches long to the center of the rope that holds the box up. Attach the yarn to the string and make two holes in the top of the box.
6. Attach a rope at each end from left to right that hangs down 8 centimeters.
7. Tie a whole carrot to the rope at both ends. The root should hang about 8 to 10 centimeters above the ground. If the rabbit then jumps up to grab the carrot with its paws, the yarn will tear and the box will fall over the rabbit.

Tips

• Walk slowly and do not make unexpected movements when approaching a rabbit. They are shocked by that.
• Instead of looking for tracks, you can just look at rabbits to see where they are going.
• Don't adjust your trap unless it really doesn't work at all. A rabbit can smell your scent and therefore stay away.
• If you are felting a rabbit, you can use the fur to make moccasins, for example. Then you have to catch more than one rabbit.
• If you have cuts on your hands, you should wear gloves when you are going to skin and eat wild rabbits. They can carry a disease called tularemia and it can make you sick. Also cook the meat well. Rabbits often carry tapeworms and other parasites.
• You can catch rabbits with pieces of apple and a big enough trap.
• Bring two people to catch them more easily.

Necessities

• Wire.