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  • Found on the Internet: How to Build the Ultimate Survival Shotgun

    I love love LOVE zombie apocalypse stuff.  Especially when it’s a well thought out experiment in design.  This guest post on The Art of Manliness falls squarely in that category.  Creek Stewart, a survival and preparedness instructor, walks us through the steps of how to modify a shotgun from a single purpose tool into an essential, multi-purpose survival tool:

    I’m fortunate in that I’ve been able to turn my passion into my profession–this being the study of Survival and Preparedness.  I’ve always enjoyed building survival kits of all shapes and sizes.  I enjoy the challenge of fitting lifesaving survival necessities into small compact containers.  I’ve built survival kits using film canisters, candy tins, key-rings, boxes, bottles, tubes, bags and everything in-between.  For this project, I decided to build a survival kit using a shotgun platform–creating the Ultimate Survival Shotgun.  My challenge was that everything had to be included in or on the gun itself–no extra pack items or containers.  Below is what I did as well as the survival logic behind each decision.

    [Arming Yourself for the Zombie Apocalypse: How to Build the Ultimate Survival Shotgun] via [The Art of Manliness]

  • Found on the Internet: How Do I Tell If a Mushroom Is Safe to Eat?

    Clearly, if websites were people, The Armageddon Blog would be good pals with Lifehacker.  Or at least, follow Lifehacker around all the time talking about how great of friends they are while Lifehacker tries to ignore the creepy guy following him around.  Yet again, there’s another article on Lifehacker that is relevant to the interests of this website.  If I’ve drilled one fact over any other on the site, it’s that food is probably the most important thing to your survival.  You’ll be able to scavenge food from houses and stores sometimes, but more frequently as time goes on, you’ll need to rely on nature for sustenance.  Mushrooms are one of the more prevalent foods you’ll find in a forest, but they can be potentially dangerous (more so than any other plant you’ll come across).  So how do you know which ones are safe?  Alan Henry let’s us know a few guidelines for determining this:

    If you spend any time outdoors, you’ve probably seen mushrooms growing under trees or in your yard, but if you’re out camping or just enjoy foraging, here are some ways to tell if the mushroom you’re looking at is edible.

    [How Do I Tell If a Mushroom Is Safe to Eat?] via Lifehacker

     

  • Doomsday Ark

    Back in 2006, scientists started discussing the idea of a “Doomsday Ark.”  This proposed idea is to create a way to rebuild society should the end of the world come about.  While the idea met with skepticism in the scientific community, it has taken a foothold and was formally presented at a conference in 2008 in Strasbourg, France.

    The Doomsday Ark is similar to the seed vault locked away in a mountainside in Norway, which contains seeds for every type of plant we know of so that in the post-apocalyptic world, we can regrow any lost crops.  There is also a similar vault in Great Britain that stores genetic samples for all kinds of life on Earth for the same reason.  The main difference is that the Doomsday Ark would be kept on the Moon.

    The initial plan for the Ark is to house hard disks containing all of human knowledge recorded in Arabic, English, Chinese, Russian, French and Spanish.  This knowledge will contain DNA sequences, technological information, agricultural instructions, how to make metal, basically anything that could be used to rebuild civilization.

    The initial Ark will last for approximately 35 years, at which time it will (hopefully) be replaced with a more advanced version that will include a synthetic atmosphere which can house living samples of plants as well as the given information from the previous incarnation of the Ark.

    This is all well and good, but how do we go about accessing this information.  The plan is constant radio transmissions beamed back to Earth.  There will be roughly 4000 receiver stations that will double as supply stations that contain supplies for any survivors.  The problem here is that if these stations are publicly known, they can become the target for anarcho-terrorist groups who decide that having that knowledge would be bad.  The other problem is that these facilities will be susceptible to any disasters that may befall the planet.  However, since it is a constant broadcast and assuming it transmits in the clear, anybody with a radio can pick up the transmission and get the information.

    Just another reason to have a radio on hand for the apocalypse.

  • Hypothermia

    If you are lucky enough to live in an area where temperatures never get severely cold, you probably don’t need to worry about hypothermia.  You also don’t know how to cope with it if it does happen.  Hypothermia is a condition in which your core temperature drops below the level necessary to maintain normal bodily functions.  An average adult’s core temperature should fall in between 94°F and 100°F.  Once you dip below that range you will start to experience hypothermia.  It may only be mild hypothermia, but mild hypothermia can quickly escalate to severe hypothermia.

    It is key to remember that, no matter how drastic the situation may seem, there is no such thing as a “lost cause” with hypothermia victims.  As long as you take appropriate, moderate measures, the victim should recover.  A little girl in Sweden had a documented case of hypothermia in December 2010 in which her core temperature was close to 55°F and she survived!

    Mild Hypothermia

    Mild hypothermia is the most common form of hypothermia encountered, and luckily the least damaging.  Symptoms of mild hypothermia include:

    • shivering – Muscles near vital organs will involuntarily begin to spasm. This is a defense mechanism in order to insure that your organs stay warm.
    • hypertension and tachycardia – When you get cold, your body starts to pull blood away from your extremities and into your core to keep your vital organs warm.  This can caused increased blood pressure and heart rate.
    • tachypnea – Typically, you breathe at around 12-20 breaths per minute.  Breathing faster than that can be a sign of hypothermia.  This one is difficult to gauge since physical activity of any kind can increase your breathing cycle into that range.
    • vasoconstriction – When you start shivering and your muscles start to spasm, this can cause neighboring blood vessels to constrict, lower blood flow throughout the body.  This is also one of the ways in which your body keeps blood in your core and away from your extremities.
    • cold diuresis – As your body resrticts flow of blood to your core, other systems can get confused and think that you have an excess of liquid in your body.  This will signal the kidneys to start extracting some of that liquid from the bloodstream and remove it as urine.  This is why it is doubly important to stay hydrated in the cold.
    • mental confusion – If you or someone you are with starts to get confused, or act strangely, this is a sure sign of hypothermia.
    • hepatic dysfunction – Liver failure or dysfunction isn’t really a symptom so much as it is a result.  Even in the mild stage of hypothermia, serious damage can occur if not dealt with as soon as possible.
    • hyperglycemia – An increase in blood sugar is not uncommon, nor is it a problem if your blood sugar levels return to normal within a reasonable amount of time.  If left unchecked, it can lead to some nasty side effects including permanent blindness.

    If you or someone you know is suffering for mild hypothermia, follow these steps to get them on the road to recovery.

    1. Reduce Heat Loss – Get them any additional layers of clothing you can get your hands on, swap out wet clothing for dry clothing, get them doing something physical, get them to shelter.  Passive rewarming is the best technique at this point.  Let them use their own body heat to get them back in working order.  Remember that overdoing it can be just as bad as not doing anything at all.
    2. Add Fuel & Fluids – It is essential to maintain hydration and energy consumption.
      1. Food Sources
        1. Carbohydrates are quickly converted to energy, making them ideal for someone with mild hypothermia.  They’ll give you a quick burst of energy that can increase body temperature.
        2. Proteins are more slowly converted, making them ideal as a preventative measure.
        3. Fats burn the slowest of all, but will give you the greatest energy conversion.  It takes a lot of water for your body to break fats down so it’s imperative that you keep yourself hydrated.
      2. Food Intake
        1. For someone suffering hypothermia, hot liquids are a great food source – you get the caloric intake plus an external heat source.
        2. Sugary snacks are a great way for someone in the throws of mild hypothermia to recover – they’ll get a fuel surge that should get them back to normal rather quickly.
        3. Trail mix is a wonderful (and tasty) combination of carbohydrates and fats that work well as a preventative measure against hypothermia and as a long term supplement to any sugars given to the victim.
      3. Things to Avoid
        1. Alcohol is a vasodilator, it will force open the constricted blood vessels in your extremities, which will in turn increase heat loss.
        2. Caffeine causes water loss increasing dehydration.
        3. Tobacco/nicotine – a vasoconstrictor, increases risk of frostbite
    3. Add Heat – You can do this be introducing an external heat source, such as fire or another body.  A classic survival technique for rewarming a hypothermic comrade is to climb into a sleeping bag or under a blanket together and share the normothermic persons body heat between the two people.  If you weren’t good friends before this experience, you will be afterwards!

    Moderate Hypothermia

    In the next stage of hypothermia, the extended duration of a low body temperature results in shivering becoming more violent. You will experience muscle miscoordination, where you have less control over your movements or they will be less accurate.  Movements will become slow and labored, accompanied by a stumbling pace and mild confusion. You will  become pale. Your lips, ears, or digits may have a blue tint to them.

    To treat or prevent moderate hypothermia, follow the same steps as with mild hypothermia.

    Severe Hypothermia

    In the most devastating stage of hypothermia, you will begin to experience the following symptoms:

    • Difficulty in speaking,
    • sluggish thinking,
    • amnesia,
    • inability to use hands,
    • stumbling,
    • cellular metabolic processes shut down,
    • exposed skin becomes blue and puffy,
    • muscle coordination becomes very poor,
    • walking becomes almost impossible,
    • incoherent/irrational behavior,
    • pulse and respiration rates decrease significantly, but fast heart rates (ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation) can occur,
    • major organs fail,
    • clinical death occurs (because of decreased cellular activity in stage 3 hypothermia, the body will actually take longer to undergo brain death).

    A significant chunk of hypothermia deaths are associated with what is called “paradoxical undressing.”  As you become more brain-addled, you may start to undress, regardless of the temperature.  Experts theorize that this is either due to a malfunction in the hypothalamus, causing the brain to trick itself into being to warm, or because shivering muscles become exhausted and stop, allowing the blood vessels to dilate, allowing a surge of blood and glucose into the extremities, causing an actual increase in heat in the outer regions of the body.  Think about what happens when you come inside after being in the cold for a while: You stop shivering and suddenly everything is warm to the touch, or at least feels hotter than it should.

    It is also not uncommon for people with severe hypothermia to resort to an action called “terminal burrowing” which is similar to what hibernating animals do.  When they get too cold, they make there way to their hibernation chamber and burrow in for the winter.  Humans aren’t equipped for hibernation, so when they “burrow in” (under a bed, behind a dresser, in a hole in the snow) they simply shut down and die.

    Being that severe hypothermia is so… well… severe, you have to be incredibly cautious when trying to rewarm them.  Follow these guidelines and you may bring you comrade back in from the cold.

    1. Reduce Heat Loss – You want to wrap them up in as much insulation as possible.  Get them out of any wet clothes and into dry ones.  Wrap them in blankets, if you have an aluminum “space” blanket, wrap them in that first.  Stuff them in a sleeping bag or two. Wrap them in an outer layer of plastic to keep them protected from water and wind.  DO NOT put them in a sleeping bag with another person at this stage.  The drastic difference in temperature could actually burn them or cause other permanent damage.
    2. Add Fuel & Fluids – Do not give the victim any solids, their stomach has already shut down and won’t be able to digest any non-liquids.  Ideally, if you have some Jello, you should make a diluted form of that (use twice as much water as instructed).  This works so well because it contains sugar and protein, plus you can make it with warm water, just don’t make it too warm or you’ll risk burning them.
    3. Urination – In this state, the victim will most definitely be suffering from cold diurisis and will need to urinate often.  Whenever they feel the urge, let them.  Unwrap them from their cocoon, let them pee, then wrap them back up.  If urine is left in the bladder, your body wastes some of its heat energy keeping the contents of your bladder at body temperature.
    4. Add Heat – Apply mild heat too vital areas in order to transfer that heat to nearby arteries and into the blood stream.  Apply heat to the neck, armpits, groin, and palms of the hands.  These areas will transfer heat to the carotid, brachial, and femoral arteries, and the arterial arch respectively.
    5. Rescue Breathing can be used in severe cases to increase oxygen in the blood stream and to transfer heat.

    Terminal burrowing – In the final stages of hypothermia, the brain stem produces a burrowing-like behavior. Similar to hibernation behavior in animals, individuals with severe hypothermia are often found in small, enclosed spaces, such as under the bed or behind wardrobes.

  • How to Stay Warm in the Cold

    25% of the year (more or less) is going to be uncomfortably cold.  Most of us don’t realize just how cold it gets because we have car heaters and furnaces and so on.  If you live close enough to the equator that you don’t know what I’m talking about then you’re one of the lucky few that doesn’t need to read this article.  Congratulations!  You’re all set to survive “winter!”  For the rest of you there are a few things you can do to make winter survivable.

    Know Your Limits.

    I remember several occasions where I thought I was prepared for the cold weather only to find out how wrong I was.  That’s the first thing you need to do to survive the cold – Be Prepared and know you’re limits.  If it’s too cold out for you to go tromping around, don’t risk it.

    If You Don’t Have To, Don’t Go Outside.

    You’ve likely got some kind of shelter built (temporary or permanent) that protects you from the elements.  If you’re warm inside your shelter, don’t go out unless you need to.

    Go South, Young Man!

    Follow in the footsteps of your grandparents.  When winter starts  creeping in, start heading towards Florida.  The further South you get, the less inclement the weather will be.  If you get far enough, you won’t have to worry about staying warm.

    Stay Dry

    In my opinion, if you’re out in the elements, there is nothing more important than staying dry.  If you are soaking wet (from falling into a pond for instance), it is better to strip out of your wet clothes and rub off the excess moisture from your skin with snow than it is to stay in the wet, rapidly cooling clothes.  Your socks will get wet quickly and often, it is important to make sure your feet stay dry so change your socks when you can.

    Layers

    You should wear several layers of clothing.  Be constantly aware of your body temperature and adjust your clothing accordingly.  If you start getting a little warm, take off a layer.  If you start to get a little cool, put a layer on.  If you get to warm, you’ll start to sweat, the sweat will eventually cool off, making you cold and miserable (and possibly dead).

    Avoid Cotton

    Cotton is a great material in the summer time because it soaks up your sweat and allows it to evaporate rapidly, leading to a cooling effect of the skin.  This is the exact opposite of what we want in cold weather.  It is better to wear undergarments made of synthetic materials like polyester because these materials having a wicking effect that draws your sweat away from your skin, thus avoiding the cooling effect of cotton.

    Keep your Hands and Feet Warm.

    It is important to keep your extremities warm.  When cold, your body draws most of your blood into your core to keep your vital organs protected.  If your hands and feet get too cold, you’ll get frostbite and potentially lose fingers or toes.  Wear warm boots and socks, and wear warm mittens.  Gloves are okay, but mittens are better because your fingers stay warmer when they are all together.  There are mittens you can buy that the top half on the mitten flips off so you can use your fingers for particularly dexterous tasks.

    [AMAZONPRODUCT=B000WVTFZ8]

    Keep your Head Warm.

    Similar to the previous point, it is equally important to keep your head warm.  Your head accounts for 1/3 of your heat loss from less than 10% of the surface area of your body.  This means that if your head is warm, your whole body will feel warm (or at least warmer).  If your head is cold, it will precipitate limited blood flow to the extremities and heighten the risk of hypothermia/frost bite.

    Keep Moving

    When you exert yourself, you expend energy.  Particularly, energy in the form of heat.  Simply moving around will be enough for you to start to warm up.

    Stay Hydrated

    Being in the cold can sap your body of moisture just as quickly as being in the hot sun can, but it doesn’t feel like it.  Staying hydrated will stave off any ill effects of the cold.

    Pee and Pee Often

    You’re body spends a great deal of energy keeping your core temperature at around 98.6 degrees and that includes your bladder.  If your bladder is full, that’s even more energy being wasted on something that you’re going to get rid of anyway.

    Breathe Through Your Nose

    You have four pairs of sinus cavities that connect your nose to your trachea.  This isn’t a coincidence.  These cavities filter, humidify and warm the air as it enters your body.  If you breathe in cold air, by the time it gets to your lungs, it’s warm.  If you breathe through your mouth, you get a lungful of cold air which robs your core of warmth, expending more energy to keep you warm.

  • Found on the Internet: Brewing a Cup of Coffee Without a Percolator

    Yet again, Lifehacker shows us an interesting way to do an everyday task in an emergency situation.  This time it’s how to brew an “emergency” cup of coffee.  A first world problem to be sure, but something that could soothe your soul post apocalypse:

    So you’re desperate for a cup of coffee, but you don’t have a coffee maker nearby. If you need to get your caffeine fix as soon as possible, you can hack together a small coffee maker out of just two paper cups and a filter.

    [Brew an Emergency Cup of Coffee with Two Paper Cups and a Filter] via Lifehacker

  • How to Make Ketchup

    There’s no avoiding it: Ketchup is a staple of the American diet.  We drench our fries in it, put it on our burgers, some of us even dress our scrambled eggs in it.  Ketchup gives us a way to add flavor to what might otherwise be considered a bland meal.  Ketchup is a preserved product, meaning it will last longer than the tomatoes it is made from.  Knowing how to make ketchup can be a useful skill when you start to resettle after the Armageddon event.

    The original tomato ketchup was a derivitive of a fish sauce discovered in Malaysia during the 18th century.  By the 19th century the tomato version had been created and consisted of tomatoes, salt, mace, nutmeg, allspice, clove, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper.  As the recipe evolved, vinegar replaced salt as the preserving agent, making it sweeter.  During World War II, GIs stationed in Southwest Asia saw a shortage of tomatoes and ketchup, so they invented a ketchup based on what they had available: bananas.  Banana ketchup became so wildly popular in the area that it was commercialized and is still sold and used today.  It is essentially the same as tomato ketchup just a bit sweeter.

    Ketchup Recipe

    • Tomatoes
    • Vinegar (3 cups per 100 tomatoes) or Salt (1/2 pound per 100 tomatoes)
    • Spices to taste (typically onion, cayenne pepper, garlic, black pepper, cinnamon, celery seed, etc)

    The first thing you need to do is remove the skins.  The best way to do this is shock the tomatoes.  Boil them for about a minute and then put them in extremely cold water.  This will cause the skins to seperate from the meat of the tomato and will allow you to remove the skins fairly easily.  After removing the skins, cut the tomatoes open and scoop out the seeds and water jelly.

    Simmer the tomatoes until they are mushy enough to be pushed through a sieve (usually about 30 minutes).  Surprise, surprise – the next step is to run your tomatoes through a sieve.  Add your spices to the tomato puree and cook between 200 °F and 325 °F for about 12 hours.

    You will end up with about 60 ounces of ketchup for every 100 tomatoes you use.  Remember to store it in sealable containers to prevent contamination and enjoy a little luxury in an otherwise bleak existence.

    Further Reading

  • Found on the Internet: Turn a Can Tab into a Fish Hook

    It’s a sad fact, but there are very few places in the world that you can’t find human garbage of some form or another.  The silver lining to this dark cloud is that you can make use of this garbage in a post apocalyptic world.  Over at Instructables, there’s an post on how to turn a can tab into a fish hook.  It’s a simple procedure that only requires tools commonly found on a multi-tool.

    [Turn a Can Tab into a Survival Fish Hook] via Instructables

  • Found on the Internet: CDC Addresses the Zombie Apocalypse

    It’s a been a popular subject for the past few years and the US Center for Disease Control has finally jumped on board.  Writer Ali S. Khan wrote a post on the CDC’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Blog about how to survive during a zombie outbreak:

    The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen. In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets eating anything living that got in their way. The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder “How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?”

    Well, we’re here to answer that question for you, and hopefully share a few tips about preparing for real emergencies too!

    [Social Media: Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse] via CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response Blog

  • How to Make Animal Traps

    At this point, it should be obvious that it is a universal truth that food will be incredibly scarce (unless you’re incredibly lucky or well prepared).  You have to accept that you will inevitably have to gather or hunt any food you eat.  The easiest way to hunt animals is to set traps for them because you simply build the trap and then occasionally check it for prey.

    Traps and snares are designed to crush, choke, hang, or otherwise entangle the prey, commonly incorporating several of these principles together to better ensnare prey.  In general, the simpler the trap the better.  The more complex a trap is, the more points of failure you have to contend with and the less it fails, the more often you eat.  So leave the Rube Goldberg machines in your pack.

    There is no “catch all” trap that works for all species, you need to establish what type of prey is in the area and focus on one.  There may not even be prey in your area.  Look for the following in the area you’re in:

    • Runs and trails
    • Tracks
    • Droppings
    • Chewed or rubbed vegetation
    • Nesting or roosting sites
    • Feeding and watering areas

    These clues will let you know if there is prey in the area, and what species are around.  You will want to place your traps where you know animals will pass through.

    Camouflage

    The most important part of any snare or trap is to make it blend in with its surroundings.  This will keep from alert your prey that something may be wrong.  If you are evading pursuit or capture (from cannibals or zombies or a roving motorcycle gang of runaway midget circus clowns), camouflage can hide your presence in the area.

    It is best to construct your traps away from the spot you want to place them.  If you construct them in place, you will likely break nearby vegetation, make tracks in the dirt, and leave your scent all over everything nearby.  All of this will cause the prey to be alert at the very least, and to completely avoid the area at worst.  If you have to dig a hole for your trap, make sure to remove all fresh, loose dirt as this will further alert your prey of your presence.

    Green wood and other live vegetation will ooze sap which produces a smell that will raise the hackles of any potential prey, warning them away from your trap.  On top of that, that same sap  will eventually dry and can potentially gum up the workings of your trap, allowing prey to pass through it unharmed.

    Scent is a big factor in trap making.  If anything smells wrong, your prey will become wary of the situation and potentially avoid your trap and let’s face it: you smell wrong.  It is imperative that you mask your scent near the trap.  You can try to remove it, but it’s a difficult process and, to be honest, not worthwhile.  There are a number of ways you can mask your scent.  You can use animal urine to mask your scent, but this is tricky because you need to use urine from an animal that isn’t a predator of the animal you are trying to trap, nor can it be from an animal not indigenous to the area.  Unfamiliar smells will cause animals to be cautious.

    Fires are a common occurance in nature and the animal kingdom treats them with  a bit of non-chalance.  Animals will only become anxious about fire if there is actual flame present, so using smoke in the trap area is a good way to mask your scent.  You could go so far as to char your trap in order to lock in that smoke smell, just make sure your trap will still work after you set it.

    Mud is also a good way to mask your scent.  Swamp mud is the best because the scent of rotting vegetation lingers on the mud and let me tell you, that is a STRONG smell.  Just cake your trap in mud.  Again, make sure your trap will still work afterward placing the mud.

    Channeling

    A trap by itself can be effective, but not a gaurantee.  If you place a trap on a trail, an animal could decide to simply walk around the trap, leaving your stomach empty.  What you want to do is set up some sort of way to guide your prey into your trap; make it more difficult to avoid the trap.  This technique is called channeling.  This can be as simple as putting your trap on the far end of a shrub that’s in middle of the trail, or as complex as constructing a funnel-shaped barrier between two trees.  Most animals will opt to push forward on their chosen path than try to backtrack, so they’ll walk right into your trap unless they’re certain that it’s bad for them.

    Baiting

    Baiting a trap is kind of like camouflaging your trap, but instead of hiding bad smells, you’re introducing enticing smells.  You are trying to lure the prey into the trap with the appeal of food.  This will greatly improve your chances of success if you can spare the resources.  If you are trying to trap fish, you need to bait the trap or you will more than likely not catch anything.  Try to bait the trap with something from the animals normal diet, don’t use something not indigenous to the area.  Also don’t use anything in abundance (baiting with corn in a cornfield won’t get you anywhere).  A lot of animals are big fans of salt, so you can bait your trap with some salt.  Have you ever given peanut butter to a dog before?  They go crazy for it!  For some reason, animals love peanut butter so it makes a great bait.  Make sure to leave bits of your bait outside the trap so that the animal will get a better smell and possibly a taste of the bait.  If its something good, they’ll be more likely to fall into your trap.

    Simple Snare

    As the name implies, a simple snare is the most simple of snares.  It is simply a noose  placed over a high traffic path for the animal.  Once the animal puts its head in the noose, the noose will tighten as it continues to move.  The more the animal struggles, the tighter the noose will get.  This trap will typically only restrain the animal, not kill it so you need to check these traps more often to minimize the suffering of your prey.  If your noose is made of rope, it is possible for the noose to loosen so it is recommended to use wire instead, as wire will retain its constricted size.

    Twitch-Up Snare

    A twitch-up snare is a step up in complexity (as well as effectiveness) fromk the simple snare.  Essentially, the prey gets its head caught in the noose (as with the simple snare) but then the animal is snapped off the ground, more than likely snapping its neck, killing it quickly.  The easiest way to get this motion to occur is to bend over a sapling and attach it to some sort of trigger mechanism.  I personally like to use a notched triggerbar set up.  This consists of a stake in the ground with a notch in it and a piece of wood (the triggerbar) that fits snugly into that notch.  Tie the trigger bar to the bent sapling and then tie the triggerbar to your noose.  When the animal is caught by the noose, it will pull the triggerbar away from the stake, which will cause the sapling to snap upright, which tightens the noose around the animals neck, pulling it into the air and snapping its neck.

    Squirrel Pole

    The squirrel pole is probably the most effective way to catch squirrels.  It relies on the naturally agility and curiosity of squirrels.  Place a series of nooses on a long pole leaned against a tree, so that any squirrels that climb the pole will have to walk through the nooses.  Place them close enough together that a squirrel cannot fit between.  If the squirrel is able to stand comfortably on the pole, they will chew on/through your noose, just for the sake of chewing it.  Squirrels will cautious of your trap initially, but eventually will have to investigate.  They’ll climb the pole, get caught in the noose, and then fall off the pole, snapping their neck or strangling themselves.  This trap is nice because you can catch multiple squirrels with one setup.

    These are just a basic few types of traps that you can build.  There are a great number of different traps for any number of different types of animals to trap.

    Further Reading