TGIF! Hope everyone is enjoying the draft and laughing at the Falcons. More importantly, though, there’s playoff hockey!

Survival – Personal Edition

Now the spring has sprung, it’s time to venture into the wilderness again. I’ve previously written about constructing holding traps, so today I’ll cover machine traps. Whereas holding traps capture animals, machine traps can also kill them using the power of gravity. Let’s get to it!

• As before, you’ll need to locate a well used animal path. You’ll also want to identify the narrowest portion of the path as that will be the ideal spot.
• You’ll need three (3) sticks that are roughly the same length and same diameter plus a large stone or log. And, of course, the 3 sticks need to be sturdy enough to support that stone or log. Adjust each as necessary with what’s available and also considering the size of your target animal.
• Our first stick is the support bar. Make a square notch in the middle of this stick. Whittle one point of the support bar stick thin and flat like a flat head screwdriver.
• Our second stick is the bait bar. Make a square notch in the middle of this stick. This will match with the support bar’s middle notch so that they fit together like Lincoln Logs ™. On one cutch a triangular notch on the top (relative to how it mates with the support bar) and about one (1) inch from the end. On the other end, whittle the end to a sharp point.
• Our third stick is the locking bar. Make a triangular notch in the middle of this stick. The notch will line up with the top of the support bar that was whittled. Cut one end of this stick to be flat and thin. This end will go into the triangular notch of the bait bar. File the other end to be flat. That end will support your rock or log.
• To put this together, take your first stick, the support bar, and put it into the ground, with the whittled end facing up.
• Put your bait on the pointy end of the bait bar, then pair it with the support bar using the notches in the middle of each stick.
• Put the locking bar’s flat end into the notch of the bait bar, and fit the triangular notch to the top of the support bar. This will be at about a 45 degree angle from the bait bar.
• Finally, take your rock or log, and lean the top of it against the flat end of the locking bar. Any animal that takes the bait will displace the bait bar, and that will cause the trap to collapse onto the animal.
• You’ll need up to 10 of these to be effective. Don’t worry, they get easier to make once you’ve got through the first few. Also, make sure to check these traps a couple times of day. If not, other predators will get there first.

Congrats, you’ve now got some fresh dead meat. Well, you still may need to finish off a few. We’ll go over what to do with your fresh kill in a future episode of Sunday Gravy. Just kidding, I’m not letting yeah right take credit for my Signature Smoked Squirrel recipe.

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Survival – Species Edition

Time to put the sexy in Friday!

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!