Cowboy Billy enjoys wandering the grass with the curious bovines!
Anything on the range that shows up that was not there before must be carefully inspected!
When you first show up they take interest after they have determined you have nothing edible they wander off perturbed.
Traps come in many forms. They can capture any creature there is either by killing it or containing it alive. The real beauty of a trap is its ability to work for the trapper while the trapper is not present and free to work on other daily requirements for sustaining life!
For me traps help me to control small animals who compete with me for the vegetables I grow. The chief culprit in our area is the Grey Squirrel. These little beasts are not doing anything wrong of course they are simply going about the business that God designed them for. As with all things created we were given the task of managing. Since Adam in the garden we have been given dominion over living things
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:28
In todays culture this responsibilities is almost completely out of whack but as for me I am going to endeavor to follow God’s law over man’s vain desires.
The first trap I constructed used an external seesaw aka teeter-totter style trigger which makes it cumbersome to transport and store. I recently found a design shared by John Wooding on youtube. I decided to try making one because of it’s simplicity! It is a great design and very effective as the video below will illustrate!
Good design is a joy to those made in the image of the Great designer Himself!
Enjoyed a little tour of a farm owned by some gracious folks form church today! Russ Peavyhouse is the owner and has a nice operation in Plant City. There is a stable, paddock and even a harness horse track. One of the horses he bred “ Cracker Coffee”
recently achieved quite a feat.
He took us for a hay ride in the pasture where we were quickly surrounded by cattle.
It is a strange feeling to be surrounded by a herd of rather large beasts who are so docile.
This big bull was like a puppy.
Today it happened Two squirrels in their zeal to consume the peanut butter applied to the box trap trigger found themselves in a jam! I love it when a plan comes together!
A trap is essentially a simple machine. It is built for the purpose of automatically capturing and keeping creatures that trip the triggering device while trying to obtain food. You set it, walk away and return at your leisure to see if there is a creature securely contained inside.
The box trap I constructed has been so successful for the purpose I designed it for that the sense of satisfaction I receive every time I find it occupied is just great! I am only using it to relocate squirrels and any other furry mammal that happen to be captured, but I am aware that if it ever came to it I could consistently put food on the table with one of these contraptions.
This morning just before church I peered out the window to see if the trap had been tripped but it was nowhere to be seen. I looked further and realized it had been moved. During the night a rat had set it off and my brother had moved it into a more secure location. As you can see in the video I let the rat go so I could set the trap before leaving for church. Ten minutes after setting it I had another squirrel, number twelve I believe.
I took it to church with me to let it go. Yes I thought about what it would be like to let it go in the church ala Ray Stevens. I know how much Jesus would laugh at the sight of his children running all over the room, but I am sure most people in the church do not have as gracious a sense of humor as my Jesus does so I just let it go near some big oaks trees. Enjoy the video!
four days ago I started setting out a small havahart trap, you see we are over run with squirrels. I caught and relocated five in two days but I was not happy with the fact that many of the squirrels were to big for the trap and kept escaping capture. That is when I decided I needed a bigger trap. Homedepot had a havahart 1030 that would do the job for $35 but I was reluctant to part with the money. I decided I would build my own trap with scraps of lumber and wire that up until now were just taking up space. Three days later and shabang!
I set it today and guess what? I caught a squirrel in no time!
I reset the trap and headed to church for AWANA which is like being in a building full of large squirrels running around every where and crawling all over you. I returned home to see the trap sprung and yet another hapless squirrel who undoubtedly was contemplating the genius behind this diabolical device in which it now found itself in.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
(Ecc 1:9-11)
There are few things more gratifying than identifying a problem, designing a solution and finally constructing a working device that solves the aforementioned problem. Thank God that He made us in His image and with a creative mind like His. Always remember that we never create anything. We only reassemble what out Father in heaven has created. The Glory for everything belongs to God and God belongs to those who know Him as Father.
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