Rabbits are cute until they get into your garden.
Anyone who's read Beatrix Potter or Richard Adams can appreciate the intelligence and survival skills of rabbits--until they begin destroying your garden. You can discourage rabbits from garden invasions by using snares, poison or guns. But homemade box traps, also known as "Figure 4" traps, can be used as a quick, humane and safe method of ridding your garden of rascally rabbits and any other rodents that are carting off your fruits and vegetables.
Instructions
1. Cut a 1/2-inch notch into the first section of molding, about six inches from the bottom.
2. Cut two 1/2-inch notches into the second section of molding. One notch should be about an inch from the end of the molding. The second notch should be about three inches from the other end.
3. Cut two half-inch notches into the third section of molding. The notches should be cut about an inch from each end.
4. Stand the first section upright. Align the notch that's an inch from the end in the second section of molding with the notch in the first section, placing the second section perpendicular to the first.
5. Place the third section in between the first two. The trap should now resemble a "figure 4," with the third section acting as the hypotenuse (long side) of the triangle. The horizontal part of the 4 shape should extend about three inches past the vertical.
6. Make sure the figure 4 structure that you've created will hold together, but only barely. Balance the top of the wooden box on top of the figure 4. It helps to have someone hold the figure 4 while you position the box.
7. Place carrot tops or broccoli-- the greener, the better--or dried apples on the end of the vertical in the figure 4. When the rabbit noses the bait, the figure 4 will collapse, and the box will drop over the rabbit.
8. Lift the box very slowly when removing a trapped rabbit. Wear heavy leather gloves to avoid being bitten or scratched, and try to grab it by the rear legs, if possible. Transfer the rabbit into a wire cage and release it far from your garden.
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