Besides the figure-4, several other very effective trigger devices are in use. There are two widely different types of clutch traps : bird-lime and other tenacious substances, and jaw and clap-traps. The simplest form of the first is adhesive fly-paper. Some examples of the clap-trap are the clap-net, consisting of two nets laid flat on the ground and attached to cords in such a manner that they fly up and close when the draw-cord is pulled by a concealed trapper ; and the various other spring traps used by bird-catchers. The jaw-traps are the most important class of device for the capture of fur-bearing animals. Steel-traps consist of two jaws, with or without teeth, which are worked b y powerful single or double springs and are "sprung" when the vic tim steps upon the "pan," which is placed between the jaws and at tached to a lever. They are made in many sizes, from the small est, designed for rats, to the "Great Bear Tamer," weighing over 40 lb., with jaws of 16in. in which lions, tigers and grizzly bears are trapped. The steel-trap is set and concealed in such a manner that the animal must step on its pan in passing over it to secure the bait. During recent years many types of traps, designed to reduce suffering and to displace the ordinary steel-trap, have been put out, but are not yet in general use.
With the clutch-traps must also be reckoned the oldest form of steel-trap, now to be seen only in museums, the man-trap, which was used first about the middle of the 18th century when the sys tematic preservation of game rendered protection against poachers a necessity. Such a trap, from Gloucestershire, is over 6f t. long, has 19in. serrated jaws and weighs 88 pounds. Another form of man-trap, the spring-gun, belongs to the next category, the killing traps, which are divided into traps of weight, point and edge. The most important of the weight class is the dead-fall, of which the typical form consists of a pen over whose narrow entrance one or more logs are laid across a lighter log, which is balanced upon a spindle necessarily struck by the entering animal, causing the logs to fall upon its back. In some cases the bait is attached to the spindle itself. The dead-fall was always the favourite trap of the American Indians, and is in use among many aboriginal tribes in Africa and South America. A slab of stone is often used as a
weight. The common mouse-trap which kills either by a blow or strangulation is a variety of dead-fall. Of point-traps may be men tioned those of the impaling and the missile classes. An example of the former is the stake or spear placed by Arab and African tribes at the bottom of pitfalls for big game. Another impaling trap common in Africa is the harpoon down-fall, generally used for the hippopotamus. It consists of a heavily weighted harpoon suspended in such a way that the animal, passing beneath, breaks a cord and precipitates the harpoon upon itself. Another example of impalement is the hawk-trap, consisting of a circle of stout sharp wires, in the centre of which a live fowl is placed. A bird of prey attempting to secure the fowl is impaled upon the wires. Of missile-traps the most universal are the ancient spring-bow and its modern representative the spring-gun. This is fixed upon stakes, or against a tree, with a line attached to the trigger and stretched immediately in front of the muzzle. An animal pressing against the string pulls the trigger and discharges the piece into its own body. An arrangement of sticks holding the bait in front of the muzzle is sometimes substituted for the string. Of edge-traps a curious example is the wolf-knife of Western America, which consists of a very sharp blade embedded in frozen fat. One of the wolves, licking the fat, cuts its tongue and a flow of blood ensues, with the result that not only the wolf itself but its companions become infuriated by the smell and taste, and the wounded beast, and often many of the others, are killed and devoured. The Alaskan knife-trap for large game consists of a heavy blade at tached to a lever, which, when released by the animal biting at the bait, moves over and strikes the victim.
See Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life, by W. B. Lord (1871) ; Camp Life and the Tricks of Trapping, by W. H. Gibson (1902) ; 0. T. Mason, "Traps of the American Indians," Annual Report, Smithsonian Institution, for 19o1; The Story of the Trapper, by A. C. Laut (1903).