What In the World Is It?

This is a trap, as most of you guessed.

Specifically, it is a type of leghold muskrat trap in which, after the muskrat is caught in a regular leghold trap (see below), a clamshell mechanism springs up over the top and the trap is also raised up out of the marsh by a secondary spring mechanism.

The whole thing is pretty complex and I believe it was invented to deal with the fact that muskrats have very small front legs that are liable to break off if trapped in a dry land or very shallow water situation.

Of course, muskrats are rarely trapped in these kinds of conditions, and if they are, they are now killed instantly by using a small conibear (crush) trap invented in the late 1950s (see "How to get your dog out of a conibear trap").

The most common type of muskrat trap has always been a #1 leghold trap set up as a drowning set on a log or float or in an underwater run. Once the muskrat trips the leghold mechanism, the trap and attached muskrat slide into the water (if it is set above the water initially and not underwater) and the animal is promply drowned. A properly rigged drowning set is very humane, and if set underwater or far from a bank, it is likely to have zero by-catch.



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