Trapping is a great survival skill that can put food on the table during tough times. However, in many environments, it’s also practical on an every-day basis. It’s not just for food, either. Trapping can be used to remove dangerous animals such as venomous snakes from your property, and can also control the population of pests that might invade your home, contaminate your food stockpiles, or spread disease. For all these reasons, it’s a valuable skill to master, even if you’re not fighting starvation in a survival scenario.
Texas-based YouTuber and survival instructor Bob Hansler recently created a video about traps he set up in his neighborhood to catch rattlesnakes. He was hoping to relocate these snakes after some close calls with local kids, so he set out a few multipurpose crawdad and minnow traps to see what he could get.
He didn’t end up trapping any rattlers, but he did catch and release quite a few other desert critters, including non-venomous snakes, rodents, reptiles, and bugs. In this 15-minute video, he shows and discusses the survival value of some of the local fauna:
As a side note, I find bark scorpions on my property fairly often, so I have to give Bob credit for handling one without gloves. They can be easily-provoked and their sting is said to be quite painful (thankfully, I haven’t experienced it firsthand). I’m also glad we don’t have those giant centipedes in my neck of the woods.
