[Illustration: FIG. 25.]
[Illustration: FIG. 26.]
The Wellhouse rabbit trap, of which we here give description and
illustrations, is one used by President Wellhouse. He has 3000 of them,
distributed two per acre, and says it is the result of thirty years'
experience. He uses nothing else to protect his trees. Figure 25 is a
longitudinal section of the trap. Figure 26 is a front-end view of the
trap, on a scale three times that of fig. 25, and shows the details of
the door. The trap consists of a box made of fence boards (old ones
preferred) six inches wide and one inch thick. The boards are cut
twenty-two inches long, and the top and bottom boards are nailed onto
the side boards, thus making the opening four inches wide and six inches
high. The door, _a_, is made of wire, shaped as shown in fig. 26, and
hung to under side of the top board with two staples, shown at _dd_. The
trigger, _b_, is of wire, bent as in fig. 25, spread out, or with a loop
or figure 8, at the hanging end, and is fastened loosely along the
center on the under side of the top board with two staples.
To operate the trap, push the door, _a_, inward, and with the forefinger
catch the hooked end of the trigger, _g_, and pull it forward until the
door rests on the wire above the hook at _g_. The rabbit enters the
trap, prompted by curiosity or otherwise, and by so doing pushes the
trigger, _c_, back as he would a little brush in a hollow log, without
any suspicion or alarm. This action loosens the door, which falls behind
him, its lower edge resting against the shoulder at _f_, and bunny is
then caught. This trap was invented by Walter Wellhouse, but it is not
patented. He uses no bait. The trap cannot be sprung by birds or wind.
If new lumber is used, it must be stained some dark color, using
material not offensive to a rabbit's delicate sense of smell.