I remember this trap being in old VCR players. If you put your finger inside the player the hatch would close and it was game over for you. Very efficient design. Once I was trapped for one for days.
After trapping both my harnds in a cardboard box while attempting to retive a pair of large baking potatos I must wholeheartedly agree with the effective of the springy inward slanting doors mechanism.
I think that part of the reason is that they get pictured upside down, and they get pictured upside down probably because the underside is the more interesting and informative side to draw.
the other thing this trap could select for is size/maturity of prey. One too small/young could retrieve it's small hoof from the trap whereas a creature with bigger feet would be quite stuck.
For those whom still struggle with the concept of this trap, think about the lids they have for your soda's at McDonalds. I don't know how many of you have stuck your pinky finger into the straw hole but take it from me: You aren't getting your finger back anytime soon.
TheSteelGuru , please stick to just saying 'who' in all cases unless you know how to use 'whom' properly. :) The worst part about cans is that moment of panic when you realise that not only is your pinky stuck, it's stuck in something sharp, and all of a sudden that flimsy can doesn't feel so flimsy any more.
I've trapped most of my 70 years here in B.C. & Alta. Canada and I would like to share my thoughts on this trap, for what it's worth. I think that the shape of the jaws plays a big part on how it would make it's initial hold. I think it would work best if it was a long triangular shape with the points being at the bite edge. This would be set flat on the ground with a pit dug below the jaws about as deep as the jaws are wide across, then grasses and leaves used to hide it. As the ungulate stepped on the closed jaws the light springs allowed it to open up, then as the animal realized it's foot was not stopping at ground level and tried to pull up the pointed edge would grab lightly with the spring tension and the more the animal struggled the tighter the trap dug in and allowed the foot to travel to the openings in the jaws. I also believe that this could have been a free standing trap or maybe attached with a vine to a tree trunk. If a particular species of ungulate was targeted and given the trapper, at that time, would have spent his life studying his targets, I think if the trap was constructed to the right size no restraints would be necessary. Most of these animals walk with their feet fairly close together, side to side, and their stride is relative to their chosen gate. Lets assume they were at a walk when caught by it's front foot and the deer was 150 Lbs. In order to move forward at any pace it has to bring it's rear hoof forward perhaps 18-22 inches and down to take the body weight for that side, thus stepping on the trap it's self , if not back into the jaws again. If both hooves are caught then it's not going far, if only one is in the jaws every time it tries to move it would step on the trap and trip. In other words by changing the jaw length and traps over all length you can target different species or sizes of animals. If this animal was only caught by one hoof it's initial response is to run but it soon realizes that's not working so it tries to walk and that doesn't do so well either. No matter what it does it's leaving an easy track to fallow, find a finish it off with my trusty handgun, er spear. Just some ramblings from a lonely old man, Billy
I saw it and guessed immediately as well, but I have the benefit of having done some training in mantrapping, and there's a rather vicious (well, almost all of them are pretty vicious) mantrap that looks and operates quite similarly. Just with more spikes involved.
Because you're OBSESSED with tanks! Won't you think about the children? Little Jimmy painted a picture for you today, it was of the whole family... except you... you were off to one side cuddling a T34.
The museum did not think it through, if the doors were that powerful a clamp, then how would a twig have held the doors open? Wouldn't it just snap under the weight of these incredibly heavy doors?
The doors aren't heavy. The twigs act as springs to hold the doors closed. When an animal steps on the door; it opens and the animal's leg is trapped due to the doors wanting to close. It's like you didn't even watch the video. It's not hard to understand.
AdmiralAlmond its like you didn't even read his comment The museum thought a twig held the doors open and when the animal stepped on the twig it would snap and the two bigger sticks in the back would slam the trap shut His comment is saying that for that to happen the twig would have to be really strong as well as the two sticks that close the door for it to do enough damage to break the animal's ankle Lindy's idea of how it works is pretty smart and is probably correct though
Bart Bols that would be a lot of space, and a lot of chance for the deers foot to miss the twig, not nearly as effective as a shark teeth kind of thing.
If i could think of something sufficiently strong along its length and extremely weak to any force acting perpendicular to it, i would suggest that. Some materials have it with acting like that. Dont know how it'd be set in place, though. I dont know shit bout traps
Bart Bols but why make something ineffective, and probably not get the deer, rather than actually do something that works and most likely get what i'm trapping for. People in those times weren't unintelligent, and wouldn't waste time with something that's fairly useless.
Deep Fried Jesus Wow, holy shit relax, at least they're not as bad as Raccoons, those will pull small pats through cages to get them and then not eat the pulp that's left.
***** foxes are romanticized ad nausium. He brought up the "inhumane" treatment of foxes, and I put him in his fucking place. Foxes are animals, and even then, they're horrible, bloodthirsty, destructive animals.
I doubt that holding down the trap was necessary; the ungainliness of the trap alone would slow the deer down so that it could be killed. Sort of like how convicts on a chain gang would be outfitted with metal balls to keep them from running.
+milesbennettdyson That technique is still used today with fox snares, the animal can still move with the trap and anchor, but not far or fast and will seek shelter where the hunter can catch it.
+Albrecht “Ridicuous Name” Shnoodle "Less wear on the trap too." If your trap is anchored to the ground and you have a deer (very strong animal) thrashing and pulling on it there's going to be quite a bit of wear on it. Less than if it were allowed to walk off and lie down somewhere.
If it's stuck to the ground there's going to be a whole lot more stress put on it though. If you grab your ruler and thrash it around on your desk it'll more than likely be fine. If you nail your ruler to the desk and try to rip it off it's going to break.
Chains or bells in the pre-industrial era would be prohibitively expensive. I see no grooves or holes on any example for attaching to anything. Yes, you could use very weak springs to catch small game, but most small creatures can burrow, and so unless you build a sturdy box underneath it, they will burrow out quite quickly.
Das_Gaming_Syndrom i doubt this guy has these things laying around, or the recources to make one in a zombie apocalypse. Plus, how can you be sure anything you catch isn't infected?
most meat is perfectly safe if properly cooked. i doubt you would eat raw deer. and zombie traps aren't all bad idea, the things that make a zombie deadly are its silence and its swarming behavior. make a smaller swarm by slowing some of them down, and make them loud because they hve to drag a lump of wood around
It reminds me if anything of a method I read about for hunting elephants, where a springy, elastic rope would be caught around the elephant's leg at one end, and the other end tied to a log. Not a huge log, not one to hold it in place, but hefty enough to tire the elephant as he drags it around. It's a form of persistence hunting, which humans excel at.
I think that if they expected an animal to drag it, they would have put holes in the board for attaching weights and lines. I think it is a big flat board so that you can pile stuff on it.
I love when I think 'That looks like it just opens up into hole and then holds the leg in place,' and then you explain how it does exactly that. This makes me feel so smart.
A few years ago I went to the Cu Chi tunnels museum in Vietnam and saw several examples of traps used by the Vietnamese to protect the tunnels. Not a few of them used a similar principle to the one you're describing. Easy to put your foot in, but if you try to pull it out, your leg gets torn to shreds. Very ingenious, and barbaric.
How could anthropologists possibly not see that that was its obvious function? I could tell just by looking at it that that's how it seemed to work best. It's just weird.
+Kaitlyn Amanda the problem is that the anthropologist have to report back to a committee. who then have to come to a consensus (usually a compromise on all sides) and then you get the silly answers you see around ya.
+Kaitlyn Amanda Weirdly enough its not even compared to other traps like the Apache hole trap and such. Basically the same principle except... more simple! Its like a one way valve for deer in the blatant sense. And to be completely honest I'm surprised these committees haven't looked at other traps before. Great minds think alike and all that faff... Oh and that's an adorable profile pic XD.
Once again. Completely in awe of your problem-solving ability. I think the commentator below, however, is correct about the trap being designed to hobble rather than immobilize.
That's because no rope is necessary. The fact that one of the legs is trapped at a significantly lower position makes it really hard to use other legs and break out.
I don't think holding the device down is needed, a deer would certainly break it's leg, if not trying to run immediately after getting caught then potentially it would later just because of how it's shape basically acts as a lever against it's joints.
+Marc83Aus good point! and too it'd would have been a pain to carry this thing around if it didn't break your ankle. the animal eventually panics, and *snap*, falling down deers and happy trappy people
Yes, but before it'll break its leg, it can travel some distance, up to several kilometers, I guess. And you don't want to search for your prey all over the forest, you want it to stay where you set the trap (that's kind of the main idea of a trap to me)
I was on a trip to the south coast of Norway in recent months and I visited a site of archaeo-cultural significance, with a reconstructed village which was advertised as "Bronze-Age and Viking village", rather amusingly. Sadly my friends and I came across the place outside opening hours and so it was empty but, being Viking Age, the site security wasn't particularly good at keeping us out (though I would note, here, Lindy's locks in ye olde timees video) and so we had a look around on the house, as it were. I was very pleased to discover that the "longhouse" of the village had a fully sized replica of one of these just lying around, and I had the chance to have a good play with it, and I wholly concur with Lindy's every observation! Very cool toys.
I agree with your analysis, and figured out where you were going even before you said it. A Chinese fingers-style trap is so much simpler than a set trap.
My only issue with this is the pit part, unless the trap is only a few inches down at most I would suspect that an animal would normally avoid any excessive deviations in their path, not walking into deep holes potentially tripping themselves for example?
+MeleeTiger Agree you'd put the trap not far below surface level. You don't want a ton of leaves n' stuff, that would alert the deer about an unsure footing.
You cannot have a somewhat deep hole, even if it's covered with twigs, simply for the fact that deers have four legs. They simply are not able to step into a hole with three legs of the same size still standing on ground level
+MeleeTiger What about a well traveled deer path? a log is in the way and a deer jumps over it and "Kerthunk" (How I think the trap sounds) and its stuck. It lands on two legs so it could easily cripple itself and it can be easily found with the deer off balance and even multitudes of these traps could be set in one area so it can catch the deer who jump over the log to help this one. like an Apache hole trap maybe?
I have no clue why for three days TH-cam has suggested this video to me. But I'm glad it did. I feel like I want to sit down with this guy and debate about how things work.
Maybe that trap could even be made so it only catches adult deer with adult sized ankles? Maybe even just full sized stags? Then the deer population would last longer.
Came back to watch this in 2020 with nostalgia for the days when Lindybeige used to make videos that weren't three hours long with 25 minute embedded commercials for the great courses plus.
Agreed. Likely built before money so no cost but with the tools available would have taken a lot of time to build so expensive of time. But, it the deer does not thrash it, reusable so a good investment.
I think you are right about the mechanics of the trap, but I think the trap would probably NOT be fixed to the ground, because that would give the deer something to pull against, and would require the trap to be very strong. Instead, if it was not fixed, the size/weight of the trap would prevent the animal from moving very far, and it would leave a very distinctive trail behind it, so the trapper could follow the trap, and find an exhausted deer that would be easy to shoot with a bow.
Maybe the trap could be used in both ways, however due to the fact that the deer puts all the forçe he does in his own leg, even if it's strongh enough to break the trap, that i don't think soo, the pain of the spikes would prevent him of trying to pull, and even if eh does he would probably break his leg before breaking the trap, and this trap don't looks very heavy or designed for restricting the mobility, and probably a deer with that sticked to the leg can still walk kilometers every day, i would not like to walk 10km following a trail, that even if it looks easy on the films, following a trail is damn hard even with that, and following kilometers of trail i think it's just too hard, if it could be used both ways, i would prefer the first one 100% of the times.
There is also a simpler version using just the 2 sticks and a smaller stick to hold them apart. The purpose is not to hold it in place but to work like hobbles used to keep a horse from wandering away and out running its owner. The deer would have been unable to flee as quickly or run as far when hobbled and the hunter could have caught it far more easily than a free running one.
I like your clever analyses. I think that people have been trained to think in "evolutionary" terms, so they have to make everything seem less ingenious in the past when they were just as clever or more so then today.
Completely agree with you here. It used to be people know how mechanics works. Today it's kinda impossible to have anything working without chips. - so do most people think so. hack wait 50 years and ask a person if it's possible to make car steering mechanically and he'll most probably say no.
Fascinating design. I completely agree with your conclusion. I reached the same one just before you revealed your thoughts on it. it makes most sense. It also reminds me of the scene from Saw 2 with the razor box.
Probably just slowed the creature down enough so that it could be hunted more easily. No need for it to be weighed down. A good hunter would just check his traps and if one was gone they could easily track it.
I've seen a trap once that employs a similar design: Two boards with spikes facing up are put in a hole with space to the bottom. When an animal steps onto the boards, it pushes them down, jamming the part of the board that was burrowed into the hole's wall into the animal's leg, forming a sort of 'V' shape, with the leg in the middle.
Deer are elusive little buggers thanks for giving me ideas. Since all primitive traps in the USA are illegal I would only use it in a survival situation but its always good to have another trick in your kit.
I think you're pretty obviously right. Weird to think people would think it's the other way round or proper open. Just adds unnecessary steps trying to wedge it open
Diraphe Of course, those traps weren't meant to keep the soldier put. Rather they'd spike a man through the foot to make a soldier unable to fight. They'd even rub fecal matter onto the spikes, you can imagine the infection that would ensue.
Kuro Makovec really it wasn't too effective it took out a man for a few weeks but due to our antibiotics it was rarely fatel, it just hurt like a bitch
Ah yes, but you've got to include psychological trauma as well. It's mind games more than anything, what soldier would want to go into the bush again fearing he might step on another pungi pit, if he did so already in the past?
+nimbalo gaming The goal wasn't to kill, it was to inflict an injury that required an Evac so that they would need to state their position loudly with a helicopter that could be shot at if so inclined.
That's some Scooby Doo level trap technology there. I wonder if there was a version that was ever used for catching old amusement park owners disguised as ghosts.
Yeah it's a "drag" type of trap. You would most likely dig a small hole on a game trail, place the trap over the hole, cover the mechanism with just enough grass, or leaves to camouflage the trap. The deer would get it's leg stuck in the trap and try to run, flight response is strong. The trap, being stuck to the deer's leg, makes it really hard to go anywhere, and nearly impossible go anywhere fast. Usually the deer will "hunker down" trying to hide from predators. The secondary effect of the trap is that as a drag type trap it leaves marks on the terrain, making it easier to track. It isn't going to be able to go through heavily wooded areas due to the trap, so it'll stick to meadows, open forests, etc... I believe you are absolutely correct on how the trap's mechanism operates. It's simple and wouldn't require large amounts of power to restrain the animal's leg.
I'd be inclined to believe this is correct, if for no other reason than it sounds much less finicky and prone to failure than the proposed design by the museum, where it seems like too many assumptions were made that didn't take practical concerns into consideration.
A book I had years ago discussed a Japanese trap that operates exactly the way you think that trap does, right down to bring buried in the ground. I think you are likely correct about how that trap was used.
I think you're quite right, except for one thing. I don't think it was set in a pit, though you would dig a pit under the traphole. I think you would set it flush with the ground, with a bit of dirt, leaves and such on it. An animal wouldn't step down into your hole, they'd step around it. You might tether it to a peg or a deadman (see below), but you wouldn't really need to. An animal with this huge heavy thing on its foot isn't going very far, or very fast, and it's going to leave a trail of scuffmarks and broken vegetation that the worst tracker alive could follow. It's going to be a matter of minutes to catch up with it, even if it has been dragging itself away all night. www.pinterest.com/pin/196821446191089080/
Riff Devin I'm wondering how much noise the animal makes when it's caught. If the trappers live nearby and hear when the animal gets caught they come and kill it. If they check the traps daily or once every few days then I'm more skeptical.
I can't imagine they'd leave the traps for several days. If you can trap stuff, you want to see if it's been successful for many reasons - not the least of which is food! I would expect them to rigorously check traps at least daily.
There is a deer trap made, in survival situations, by taking a 12" piece of aircraft aluminum and cutting an X in the center and a hole near the edge to tie it off to a tree. A small hole is dug on a deer trail, and the aluminum is placed over it. When a deer steps on the square, it's foot goes through the X in the aluminum and is prevented from being withdrawn by the spring and the points of the metal. You can try this yourself by taking a soda can, flattening it out, and cutting an X in it...then just push your finger through the X. I believe you'll find that's it's a lot easier to push it in, than to pull it back out.
Yeah, that working principle would be rather clever (beside being dirt cheap to make). Also, it allows to capture animals without hurting them the slightest bit: they'll just tire themselves trying to escape, and if you check your traps often enough, you might just catch a deer perfectly healthy, but so tired you can litterally pick it up, bring it back home, feed it and keep it as a pet :-)
Lindybeige very interesting trap mechanic but i'm kinda worried about the pit placing strategy. Will the earth/ground that is used to hold the "plank" rim of the trap affect the spring mechanism of the trap? i just imagine if a deer trashing around or a bear accidentally stepping on it, the trap would dig deeper to the ground and the dirt would kinda block the spring mechanism of the stick? what do you think?
A Native American trap consisted of two long pieces of a springy wood with a 'trigger' to hold them open. They were not attached to anything but were intended to hinder the deer or elk to exhaustion while it tried to escape and ran/crashed/leapt through the brush and trees. These worked best in dense forests where the deer runs were well trodden and there was thick growth on either side. The length of the wooden members was dictated by the width of the run and were as long as three feet.
What if the trap is meant to not be weighted down? What if it is meant to stay with the deer so it can get away, but it would leave a trail from the trap?
I agree. I had mice during the autumn and the major downside about traps is that when it fails it needs resetting. I used human traps because I'm not a bloody monster.
I would agree a lot with that and I think the idea of traps having to spring shut might come from how a lot of large game modern traps work. The classic metal bear trap for example.
A beautifully simple but effective mechanism. Personally I would build that whole thing with Cylindric shapes or screws. They then should only move in one direction and maybe have hooks, too. Winding a piece of string around a round wooden block should help cutting a thread... I think I should try this.
You described exactly how I assumed the trap must work just from the videos thumbnail image. I suppose it can also work as a covered pitfall trap with the twig locking the mechanism open but I don't see why it would be necessary to operate it like that as long as the targeted prey is heavy enough.
As I'm driving and maintaining a Peugeot VAN, especially whole clutch system, I need to share a comment relating to your opinion: *if there's a good, sturdy project of anything, expect someone else to reinvent it despite all the cost* French from Peugeot made a clutch system which did fail after the fraction of its competitors' lifetime. Pedal mount is relying on a plastic tube, which (you guessed it) wears out, making a clutch cord to dismount and you to put it back on after 3 clutch uses, proudly singing Marseillaise. If one design works well, expect to witness another design from someone else which just *works*
It seems to me it is a "double foot trap", these animals would get one leg stuck and push and paw at the item to try to release the trapped foot. The free foot has the potential to be caught in the second hole of the two hole design, thereby the animal is practically immobilized and easily dispatched. The trap looks like it is a surface trap which would just have a hole dug out under it, and it may lie across the trail which would be choked to force animals to tread onto the board/trap that may be covered with just some leafs. My 2cents. Very interesting, and nicely discussed Lindybeige.
I think your surmise that the trap being perpetually shut until the weight of a suitable prey pushes on it is completely bang on. I figure that once the ankle has gone past the edges of the door, attempting to pull the leg out is going to force the sides in tighter against the leg anyway, even without those holes or the teeth. Nice point about automatic resetting if an animal escapes, too. Our ancestors were smart and inventive folk- despite what the Von Daniken crowd like to claim.
How long did it take you to come to the conclusion that the trap works that way? It was extremely obvious how that trap was intended to be used just by looking at it.
from personal experience i can vouch for your take on how this would function. At work we have garbage cans inside cabinets the doors are spring loaded to swing shut after you throw trash in. rounded over steel on the bottom lip of the door and a smooth steel ramp for the trash to go down. I have a couple times pinched my finger in the door as it swings shut on your hand after letting go of the paper towel, then the force you apply pulling your hand out tensions the door more firmly against your finger as the action pulls the door shut more firmly as you attempt to remove your hand.
Horses are reluctant to walk over hollow ground covered by planks when they hear the resonance of their hooves not standing on solid ground. This makes it likely that, unlike in your image, the whole trap was covered with earth and twigs to make it silent when the deer steps on it with a hole invisible from above until you have enough weight to set the trap off.
making the doors not quite need to apply too much pressure is pretty ingenious. a panicking deer is not likely to think of pushing them down. but... you did mention the animal getting away, and it resetting. perhaps the trap was in some ways only to delay/injure to make for easier tracking of deer-sized animals. PregnantOrc also had a good idea about making the trap "light" enough to capture a smaller animal, which unlike the larger one would be much less likely to escape or damage the trap.
I have some reservations as to your theories. With most modern traps you don't want your trap rigidly secured, it gives the animal too much leverage to rip or tear their leg out. Usually you secure the trap via a chain or rope to a loose log or branch, this slows and tires the animal. Being a slab of wood itself, this trap could possibly function as its own drag. The other point regards the 'springs.' Its possible that they are strong enough that a deers weight would push them open, but the illustrations you present seem to show relatively formidable wooden limbs. My sense of scale of the trap may be off having not seen it in person or with a physical reference, but I feel the springing shut method may have some more merit.
+Jacob Reese Good point, and yet, it would have to be in a hole, bc if it was just laying on the ground, no deer would step on it, even a horse or cow wont step on something laying on the ground like that.
+LackadaisicalE It has a fairly low profile, all you would need is maybe a hole underneath the door (not sure how far in the foot has to go on this) and cover it with some brush.
It makes sense, and if it was set into earthen walls like you suggest, then the animal will stumble/slide down towards the trap. If they did look down, they would assume its a stable platform to step on to get themselves up, but lo, the door will open and their hoof goes in, but is held fast by the nature of the door swinging down, but not up.
I remember this trap being in old VCR players. If you put your finger inside the player the hatch would close and it was game over for you. Very efficient design. Once I was trapped for one for days.
+ShadowManceri Man I remember those things. Freaking torture devices is what they were. Damn near cut my dick off.
KEK!
+wingracer 16 Porn and a VHS tape fun times .
+ShadowManceri And the child targeted version, the cassette player in older cars.
Ahh the memories...
After trapping both my harnds in a cardboard box while attempting to retive a pair of large baking potatos I must wholeheartedly agree with the effective of the springy inward slanting doors mechanism.
Just et go of the potato!
But then you admit defeat. Better to live life with you hand in a box than to be beaten by a tuber as Grandad used to say.
No! My Potatoes! I will break the box first!
If paper can hold adult human imagine how effective is wood. Which is thick paper
but would it work on a Frenchman ?
Depends on..how sensitive it is to surrender
yes, these traps also engage when stepping into it backwards.
couchcamper xD nice one
omg that's funny
Also, a frenchman couldn't free himself with his hands, as they are occupied with waving a white flag.
I think that part of the reason is that they get pictured upside down, and they get pictured upside down probably because the underside is the more interesting and informative side to draw.
It's sort of like a fish trap in its passivity. You can go in, but you can't come out.
A weir?
My basement?
My dank meme filled attic
Thats a trap in its very definition.
the other thing this trap could select for is size/maturity of prey. One too small/young could retrieve it's small hoof from the trap whereas a creature with bigger feet would be quite stuck.
which is why it can automatically resets.
Exactly what I was thinking
As a hunter, I would say get the big one this season, and the small one next season when it's big.
Ah but, a smaller deer left to live becomes a bigger deer next season.
When your traping, you will take anything... it's all food....
For those whom still struggle with the concept of this trap, think about the lids they have for your soda's at McDonalds. I don't know how many of you have stuck your pinky finger into the straw hole but take it from me: You aren't getting your finger back anytime soon.
I just teared the lid apart.
Or the flaps that keep you from stealing stuff from vending machines.
TheSteelGuru , please stick to just saying 'who' in all cases unless you know how to use 'whom' properly. :)
The worst part about cans is that moment of panic when you realise that not only is your pinky stuck, it's stuck in something sharp, and all of a sudden that flimsy can doesn't feel so flimsy any more.
TheSteelGuru true. amputation is inevitable.
@@WeAreSoPredictable just shove your whole hand through the lid. the girth of your hand will tear the lid to pieces and you can free your hand.
Your rabbit animations are second to none.
It was shaking a bit while moving I think thats pretty accurate
I was there for the Sweet Swing Ljubljana festival. The weather was cold and wet.
Lindybeige you are a genius and I really like your videos especially the ones about tanks
Being surrounded by mountains and hills weather in Ljubljana is very often cold and wet. But it’s a beautiful city on sunny days.
@@thif4722 I agree, I visited it just before the "pandemic" hit, and was very impressed. Beautiful city, as is Slovenia itself.
@@slinky6481 Why is "pandemic" in quotes?
@@mdilligaf Because before the WHO changed the definition of "pandemic" as well as many others this wouldn't be a pandemic
I'm actually surprised they thought it worked any way other than the one you mentioned. Some people are obsessed with making things complicated.
Somebody probably wouldn't get paid if it wasn't over complicated and made the museum board go "ooo... aahhh.. uh huh."
Occam's Razor is easily misplaced.
@@thedevilinthecircuit1414 Just use Occam's scissors followed by Occam's hair removal cream.
As a professional trapper, I think you nailed this one on the head. Cheers!
cruel bastard
take your false gods elsewhere, gaia fanboy - *_YOU_* are evil
@@4lfie- idiot....
No, this doesn't do anything the head, it only traps the legs.
I've trapped most of my 70 years here in B.C. & Alta. Canada and I would like to share my thoughts on this trap, for what it's worth. I think that the shape of the jaws plays a big part on how it would make it's initial hold. I think it would work best if it was a long triangular shape with the points being at the bite edge. This would be set flat on the ground with a pit dug below the jaws about as deep as the jaws are wide across, then grasses and leaves used to hide it. As the ungulate stepped on the closed jaws the light springs allowed it to open up, then as the animal realized it's foot was not stopping at ground level and tried to pull up the pointed edge would grab lightly with the spring tension and the more the animal struggled the tighter the trap dug in and allowed the foot to travel to the openings in the jaws. I also believe that this could have been a free standing trap or maybe attached with a vine to a tree trunk. If a particular species of ungulate was targeted and given the trapper, at that time, would have spent his life studying his targets, I think if the trap was constructed to the right size no restraints would be necessary. Most of these animals walk with their feet fairly close together, side to side, and their stride is relative to their chosen gate. Lets assume they were at a walk when caught by it's front foot and the deer was 150 Lbs. In order to move forward at any pace it has to bring it's rear hoof forward perhaps 18-22 inches and down to take the body weight for that side, thus stepping on the trap it's self , if not back into the jaws again. If both hooves are caught then it's not going far, if only one is in the jaws every time it tries to move it would step on the trap and trip. In other words by changing the jaw length and traps over all length you can target different species or sizes of animals. If this animal was only caught by one hoof it's initial response is to run but it soon realizes that's not working so it tries to walk and that doesn't do so well either. No matter what it does it's leaving an easy track to fallow, find a finish it off with my trusty handgun, er spear. Just some ramblings from a lonely old man, Billy
The other point that seems to be overlooked is the (un)likelihood of a deer stepping into a hole. It's a surface trap.
Trapping seems like a horrifically cruel way to catch an animal.
@@oathlords7989 It is but starving yourself and family because you did not trap the deer is also cruel.
Really? Thanks for the info. You're very wise.
You know any good trapping guides for beginners? Mainly how to spot good areas and trails and what to look for?
I've never seen one of these things in my life, but the moment I saw it I assumed this was how it worked... isn't it obvious?
That's what I thought too.
I saw it and guessed immediately as well, but I have the benefit of having done some training in mantrapping, and there's a rather vicious (well, almost all of them are pretty vicious) mantrap that looks and operates quite similarly. Just with more spikes involved.
Most people probably assumed the trap was open and then closed when something stepped in it
Benjamin Peters are you talking about the punji stake trap? Thats what I thought of when I saw this, you can put your foot in but it cant come out
This must be a rhetorical question, as LB clearly states that it took at least a full day for him to solve it in his mind to his own satisfaction.
Why in gods name did i assume that this “tread trap” was meant to trap tank treads ;-;
Thought the same thing lol
For the same reason that I did. There was a gun ad preceding it.
Because you're OBSESSED with tanks! Won't you think about the children? Little Jimmy painted a picture for you today, it was of the whole family... except you... you were off to one side cuddling a T34.
@@Milamberinx 😂
@@Milamberinx lucky, how come I don't get a t-34 to hug! But I thought it would be for tank treads too, I have been binging all the tank videos.
The museum did not think it through, if the doors were that powerful a clamp, then how would a twig have held the doors open? Wouldn't it just snap under the weight of these incredibly heavy doors?
The doors aren't heavy. The twigs act as springs to hold the doors closed. When an animal steps on the door; it opens and the animal's leg is trapped due to the doors wanting to close.
It's like you didn't even watch the video. It's not hard to understand.
AdmiralAlmond its like you didn't even read his comment
The museum thought a twig held the doors open and when the animal stepped on the twig it would snap and the two bigger sticks in the back would slam the trap shut
His comment is saying that for that to happen the twig would have to be really strong as well as the two sticks that close the door for it to do enough damage to break the animal's ankle
Lindy's idea of how it works is pretty smart and is probably correct though
Bart Bols that would be a lot of space, and a lot of chance for the deers foot to miss the twig, not nearly as effective as a shark teeth kind of thing.
If i could think of something sufficiently strong along its length and extremely weak to any force acting perpendicular to it, i would suggest that. Some materials have it with acting like that. Dont know how it'd be set in place, though. I dont know shit bout traps
Bart Bols but why make something ineffective, and probably not get the deer, rather than actually do something that works and most likely get what i'm trapping for. People in those times weren't unintelligent, and wouldn't waste time with something that's fairly useless.
Never heard of this type of trap before, your explanation sounds vastly better than that the museum provided. Really nice design.
Man, I fucking love your videos. They're so damn interesting.
So it's basicly an oversized chinese finger-trap? Thats ingenious! And more humane than just about every other trap i've heard of.
Must hurt alot to try and force your leg out of it.
*****
Sure, but if you look at some of the traps used for foxes before they where thankfully banned that pain is rather overshadowed.
Deep Fried Jesus Wow, holy shit relax, at least they're not as bad as Raccoons, those will pull small pats through cages to get them and then not eat the pulp that's left.
***** foxes are romanticized ad nausium. He brought up the "inhumane" treatment of foxes, and I put him in his fucking place. Foxes are animals, and even then, they're horrible, bloodthirsty, destructive animals.
Deep Fried Jesus Sure, but torturing them unnecessarily will only lead to more Disney movies.
I doubt that holding down the trap was necessary; the ungainliness of the trap alone would slow the deer down so that it could be killed. Sort of like how convicts on a chain gang would be outfitted with metal balls to keep them from running.
+milesbennettdyson That technique is still used today with fox snares, the animal can still move with the trap and anchor, but not far or fast and will seek shelter where the hunter can catch it.
+milesbennettdyson That said, It's still easier if you know exactly where they'll be. Less wear on the trap too.
+Albrecht “Ridicuous Name” Shnoodle "Less wear on the trap too." If your trap is anchored to the ground and you have a deer (very strong animal) thrashing and pulling on it there's going to be quite a bit of wear on it. Less than if it were allowed to walk off and lie down somewhere.
Deer will thrash, and pull if there is anything on their legs, until they exhaust themselves. It doesn't matter if they're stuck somewhere or not.
If it's stuck to the ground there's going to be a whole lot more stress put on it though.
If you grab your ruler and thrash it around on your desk it'll more than likely be fine. If you nail your ruler to the desk and try to rip it off it's going to break.
I love the rational way you think and explain things. It is quite refreshing in the "modern" but unenlightened age we live in.
I've always imagined primitive traps as figure four dead falls, or some type of snare. This is surprisingly clever.
Looks like a Vietcong trap.
Iguana G-man what I thought this video was about lmao
Iguana G-man Turns out that the Vietcong weren't the only ones using traps. Shocking, I know.
Drawl Ball Jamal
obviously they weren't the only ones to use traps but they based a horrific human trap off of this.
Not brutal enough
d_b ITS A TRAP!!!
But It can´t destroy a Mon Calamari cruiser so it´s useless
Chains or bells in the pre-industrial era would be prohibitively expensive. I see no grooves or holes on any example for attaching to anything. Yes, you could use very weak springs to catch small game, but most small creatures can burrow, and so unless you build a sturdy box underneath it, they will burrow out quite quickly.
I was arriving at the same conclusions as the video played, so I wholeheartedly agree! Wonderful observations on a fantastic trap!
I need this guy on my zombie apocalypse team
Alexander Lee to trap a single zombie?
Canyon F to trap wildlife/food
Das_Gaming_Syndrom i doubt this guy has these things laying around, or the recources to make one in a zombie apocalypse. Plus, how can you be sure anything you catch isn't infected?
most meat is perfectly safe if properly cooked. i doubt you would eat raw deer. and zombie traps aren't all bad idea, the things that make a zombie deadly are its silence and its swarming behavior. make a smaller swarm by slowing some of them down, and make them loud because they hve to drag a lump of wood around
Ankoku Teion no, it's not. rotten meat is not safe to eat just because you cook it, so eating zombies is not a good idea.
It reminds me if anything of a method I read about for hunting elephants, where a springy, elastic rope would be caught around the elephant's leg at one end, and the other end tied to a log. Not a huge log, not one to hold it in place, but hefty enough to tire the elephant as he drags it around. It's a form of persistence hunting, which humans excel at.
I think that if they expected an animal to drag it, they would have put holes in the board for attaching weights and lines. I think it is a big flat board so that you can pile stuff on it.
I love when I think 'That looks like it just opens up into hole and then holds the leg in place,' and then you explain how it does exactly that.
This makes me feel so smart.
A few years ago I went to the Cu Chi tunnels museum in Vietnam and saw several examples of traps used by the Vietnamese to protect the tunnels. Not a few of them used a similar principle to the one you're describing. Easy to put your foot in, but if you try to pull it out, your leg gets torn to shreds. Very ingenious, and barbaric.
How could anthropologists possibly not see that that was its obvious function? I could tell just by looking at it that that's how it seemed to work best. It's just weird.
+Kaitlyn Amanda the problem is that the anthropologist have to report back to a committee. who then have to come to a consensus (usually a compromise on all sides) and then you get the silly answers you see around ya.
*****
You know, that actually makes a lot of sense. Hurrah for bureaucracy...
+Kaitlyn Amanda Weirdly enough its not even compared to other traps like the Apache hole trap and such. Basically the same principle except... more simple! Its like a one way valve for deer in the blatant sense. And to be completely honest I'm surprised these committees haven't looked at other traps before. Great minds think alike and all that faff... Oh and that's an adorable profile pic XD.
+Dash Costello Danke schön.
Kaitlyn Amanda
Ah! Du sprichst Deutsch?
Once again. Completely in awe of your problem-solving ability. I think the commentator below, however, is correct about the trap being designed to hobble rather than immobilize.
I'd just tie the trap to the tree. Sure the animal can walk around within the length of the rope, but it's not going anywhere.
It can break the trap or rope. With one leg much lower than the rest, it wouldn't be that easy.
except there's no holes in it to tie a rope to...
That's because no rope is necessary. The fact that one of the legs is trapped at a significantly lower position makes it really hard to use other legs and break out.
jwenting Then make a hole.
The Creator I think he's saying that they must not have tied it to a tree since if they did there'd be a hole.
I don't think holding the device down is needed, a deer would certainly break it's leg, if not trying to run immediately after getting caught then potentially it would later just because of how it's shape basically acts as a lever against it's joints.
+Marc83Aus good point! and too it'd would have been a pain to carry this thing around if it didn't break your ankle. the animal eventually panics, and *snap*, falling down deers and happy trappy people
Yes, but before it'll break its leg, it can travel some distance, up to several kilometers, I guess. And you don't want to search for your prey all over the forest, you want it to stay where you set the trap (that's kind of the main idea of a trap to me)
@@jakistam1000 Maybe but the hunter could also possibly track it if it did a swath of damage through the forest.
When your parents wake you up to go to a surprise Disney trip, but the last 5 times this happened you just ended up at the Dentist.
0:19
Wonderful logic. Clarity of thought and deduction are extremely valuable gifts, be grateful!
I was on a trip to the south coast of Norway in recent months and I visited a site of archaeo-cultural significance, with a reconstructed village which was advertised as "Bronze-Age and Viking village", rather amusingly. Sadly my friends and I came across the place outside opening hours and so it was empty but, being Viking Age, the site security wasn't particularly good at keeping us out (though I would note, here, Lindy's locks in ye olde timees video) and so we had a look around on the house, as it were. I was very pleased to discover that the "longhouse" of the village had a fully sized replica of one of these just lying around, and I had the chance to have a good play with it, and I wholly concur with Lindy's every observation! Very cool toys.
I agree with your analysis, and figured out where you were going even before you said it. A Chinese fingers-style trap is so much simpler than a set trap.
My only issue with this is the pit part, unless the trap is only a few inches down at most I would suspect that an animal would normally avoid any excessive deviations in their path, not walking into deep holes potentially tripping themselves for example?
Unless it's covered many pit traps have twings and leaves covering them just for that
Well yes, my point was that such a thing wasn't shown in the illustration.
+MeleeTiger Agree you'd put the trap not far below surface level. You don't want a ton of leaves n' stuff, that would alert the deer about an unsure footing.
You cannot have a somewhat deep hole, even if it's covered with twigs, simply for the fact that deers have four legs. They simply are not able to step into a hole with three legs of the same size still standing on ground level
+MeleeTiger What about a well traveled deer path? a log is in the way and a deer jumps over it and "Kerthunk" (How I think the trap sounds) and its stuck. It lands on two legs so it could easily cripple itself and it can be easily found with the deer off balance and even multitudes of these traps could be set in one area so it can catch the deer who jump over the log to help this one. like an Apache hole trap maybe?
I have no clue why for three days TH-cam has suggested this video to me. But I'm glad it did.
I feel like I want to sit down with this guy and debate about how things work.
Maybe that trap could even be made so it only catches adult deer with adult sized ankles? Maybe even just full sized stags? Then the deer population would last longer.
That's what the holes are for, he explained in the video that only a curtain size deer would be able to get trapped.
vShoTzZ25 Awesome :) that's so handy.
If I were a Bronze Age hunter, I would build a trap for an adult deer with baby-sized ankles
@@mattzx003 smartass lol
Well done, Lindybeige! I love your points and snippets on historical weapons and tactics. Keep up the great work.
IT'S A TRAP
Wow this man is an OG, spreading history and information since the dawn of TH-cam
This happened to me with a mcdonalds cup lid when I stuck my finger in it.
Came back to watch this in 2020 with nostalgia for the days when Lindybeige used to make videos that weren't three hours long with 25 minute embedded commercials for the great courses plus.
i'm inclined to agree with your theory as to how this trap worked. seems like a rather smart low cost trap
Agreed. Likely built before money so no cost but with the tools available would have taken a lot of time to build so expensive of time. But, it the deer does not thrash it, reusable so a good investment.
I think you are right about the mechanics of the trap, but I think the trap would probably NOT be fixed to the ground, because that would give the deer something to pull against, and would require the trap to be very strong. Instead, if it was not fixed, the size/weight of the trap would prevent the animal from moving very far, and it would leave a very distinctive trail behind it, so the trapper could follow the trap, and find an exhausted deer that would be easy to shoot with a bow.
Maybe the trap could be used in both ways, however due to the fact that the deer puts all the forçe he does in his own leg, even if it's strongh enough to break the trap, that i don't think soo, the pain of the spikes would prevent him of trying to pull, and even if eh does he would probably break his leg before breaking the trap, and this trap don't looks very heavy or designed for restricting the mobility, and probably a deer with that sticked to the leg can still walk kilometers every day, i would not like to walk 10km following a trail, that even if it looks easy on the films, following a trail is damn hard even with that, and following kilometers of trail i think it's just too hard, if it could be used both ways, i would prefer the first one 100% of the times.
... Yeah, ok, TH-cam algorithm.
At least this time I believe I know _exactly_ how I ended up here.
The way you figured it is the way I instantly thought it worked. I didn't even consider the way the museum had it
Dude, you were in my country? That's awesome. =)
There is also a simpler version using just the 2 sticks and a smaller stick to hold them apart. The purpose is not to hold it in place but to work like hobbles used to keep a horse from wandering away and out running its owner. The deer would have been unable to flee as quickly or run as far when hobbled and the hunter could have caught it far more easily than a free running one.
I like your clever analyses. I think that people have been trained to think in "evolutionary" terms, so they have to make everything seem less ingenious in the past when they were just as clever or more so then today.
Completely agree with you here.
It used to be people know how mechanics works.
Today it's kinda impossible to have anything working without chips. - so do most people think so.
hack wait 50 years and ask a person if it's possible to make car steering mechanically and he'll most probably say no.
I agree. Though also archeologists aren't engineers, so it's not that surprising that they would miss how this trap really worked.
Subbed to you about a year ago, slowly going thru your back catalogue, loving every minute of it.
Trap thread
Gay
***** The dick only makes it better
_a femenine dick_
The internet is our true legacy on this planet.
Who else but the weebshits.
You just activated my trap card.
Fascinating design. I completely agree with your conclusion. I reached the same one just before you revealed your thoughts on it. it makes most sense. It also reminds me of the scene from Saw 2 with the razor box.
Probably just slowed the creature down enough so that it could be hunted more easily. No need for it to be weighed down. A good hunter would just check his traps and if one was gone they could easily track it.
I've seen a trap once that employs a similar design: Two boards with spikes facing up are put in a hole with space to the bottom.
When an animal steps onto the boards, it pushes them down, jamming the part of the board that was burrowed into the hole's wall into the animal's leg, forming a sort of 'V' shape, with the leg in the middle.
How about you make one and test it out?
Set it up and leave on the subway for a couple of days
Fredcraftness hell have to set it in front of a Walmart those are the only ppl heavy enough to probably set it off lmao
Didn´t know that so many deers are strolling on subways and Walmarts.
you are completely right. the poachers in my home area are still using similar traps nowadays, exactly as you explained
I love these video's.. Lindy, you DO need a clip-on microphone though.. your video's are way too informative not to have good audio!
Deer are elusive little buggers thanks for giving me ideas. Since all primitive traps in the USA are illegal I would only use it in a survival situation but its always good to have another trick in your kit.
that's a pretty clever trap
I think you're pretty obviously right. Weird to think people would think it's the other way round or proper open. Just adds unnecessary steps trying to wedge it open
The Vietcong used similar traps during the Vietnam war; their versions were spiked however.
Pungi pits
Diraphe Of course, those traps weren't meant to keep the soldier put. Rather they'd spike a man through the foot to make a soldier unable to fight. They'd even rub fecal matter onto the spikes, you can imagine the infection that would ensue.
Kuro Makovec really it wasn't too effective it took out a man for a few weeks but due to our antibiotics it was rarely fatel, it just hurt like a bitch
Ah yes, but you've got to include psychological trauma as well. It's mind games more than anything, what soldier would want to go into the bush again fearing he might step on another pungi pit, if he did so already in the past?
+nimbalo gaming The goal wasn't to kill, it was to inflict an injury that required an Evac so that they would need to state their position loudly with a helicopter that could be shot at if so inclined.
That's some Scooby Doo level trap technology there. I wonder if there was a version that was ever used for catching old amusement park owners disguised as ghosts.
y'all posting on a trap thread ... (sorry, I had to!).
Yeah it's a "drag" type of trap. You would most likely dig a small hole on a game trail, place the trap over the hole, cover the mechanism with just enough grass, or leaves to camouflage the trap. The deer would get it's leg stuck in the trap and try to run, flight response is strong. The trap, being stuck to the deer's leg, makes it really hard to go anywhere, and nearly impossible go anywhere fast. Usually the deer will "hunker down" trying to hide from predators. The secondary effect of the trap is that as a drag type trap it leaves marks on the terrain, making it easier to track. It isn't going to be able to go through heavily wooded areas due to the trap, so it'll stick to meadows, open forests, etc... I believe you are absolutely correct on how the trap's mechanism operates. It's simple and wouldn't require large amounts of power to restrain the animal's leg.
I'd be inclined to believe this is correct, if for no other reason than it sounds much less finicky and prone to failure than the proposed design by the museum, where it seems like too many assumptions were made that didn't take practical concerns into consideration.
A book I had years ago discussed a Japanese trap that operates exactly the way you think that trap does, right down to bring buried in the ground. I think you are likely correct about how that trap was used.
I think you're quite right, except for one thing. I don't think it was set in a pit, though you would dig a pit under the traphole. I think you would set it flush with the ground, with a bit of dirt, leaves and such on it. An animal wouldn't step down into your hole, they'd step around it. You might tether it to a peg or a deadman (see below), but you wouldn't really need to. An animal with this huge heavy thing on its foot isn't going very far, or very fast, and it's going to leave a trail of scuffmarks and broken vegetation that the worst tracker alive could follow. It's going to be a matter of minutes to catch up with it, even if it has been dragging itself away all night.
www.pinterest.com/pin/196821446191089080/
Tying it with a rope to a tree makes sense. Why let the animal walk even if not far?
Agreed, More of a hobble than trap. Animal with one of these on its feet won't get able to run away when people with pointy sticks arrive.
Riff Devin I'm wondering how much noise the animal makes when it's caught. If the trappers live nearby and hear when the animal gets caught they come and kill it. If they check the traps daily or once every few days then I'm more skeptical.
I'd bet between whatever passes for a scream in their species, and the board itself, one heck of a lot of noise
I can't imagine they'd leave the traps for several days. If you can trap stuff, you want to see if it's been successful for many reasons - not the least of which is food! I would expect them to rigorously check traps at least daily.
There is a deer trap made, in survival situations, by taking a 12" piece of aircraft aluminum and cutting an X in the center and a hole near the edge to tie it off to a tree. A small hole is dug on a deer trail, and the aluminum is placed over it. When a deer steps on the square, it's foot goes through the X in the aluminum and is prevented from being withdrawn by the spring and the points of the metal.
You can try this yourself by taking a soda can, flattening it out, and cutting an X in it...then just push your finger through the X. I believe you'll find that's it's a lot easier to push it in, than to pull it back out.
Yeah, that working principle would be rather clever (beside being dirt cheap to make). Also, it allows to capture animals without hurting them the slightest bit: they'll just tire themselves trying to escape, and if you check your traps often enough, you might just catch a deer perfectly healthy, but so tired you can litterally pick it up, bring it back home, feed it and keep it as a pet :-)
I like your way of thinking.
Yeah, a pet...you know, until you want/need the meat, then you have lovely fresh meat.
Lindybeige very interesting trap mechanic but i'm kinda worried about the pit placing strategy. Will the earth/ground that is used to hold the "plank" rim of the trap affect the spring mechanism of the trap? i just imagine if a deer trashing around or a bear accidentally stepping on it, the trap would dig deeper to the ground and the dirt would kinda block the spring mechanism of the stick? what do you think?
I figured that out from looking at the thumbnail of the video before clicking on it...
A Native American trap consisted of two long pieces of a springy wood with a 'trigger' to hold them open. They were not attached to anything but were intended to hinder the deer or elk to exhaustion while it tried to escape and ran/crashed/leapt through the brush and trees. These worked best in dense forests where the deer runs were well trodden and there was thick growth on either side. The length of the wooden members was dictated by the width of the run and were as long as three feet.
clever!!
What if the trap is meant to not be weighted down? What if it is meant to stay with the deer so it can get away, but it would leave a trail from the trap?
Its a trap!!!!
What a polite deer to put its legs right into that opening :)
that is the best foothold trap design that I've seen so far
I agree.
I had mice during the autumn and the major downside about traps is that when it fails it needs resetting.
I used human traps because I'm not a bloody monster.
I would agree a lot with that and I think the idea of traps having to spring shut might come from how a lot of large game modern traps work.
The classic metal bear trap for example.
This whole explanation is exactly what I though when I first saw the drawing of the mechanism
A beautifully simple but effective mechanism. Personally I would build that whole thing with Cylindric shapes or screws. They then should only move in one direction and maybe have hooks, too. Winding a piece of string around a round wooden block should help cutting a thread... I think I should try this.
You described exactly how I assumed the trap must work just from the videos thumbnail image. I suppose it can also work as a covered pitfall trap with the twig locking the mechanism open but I don't see why it would be necessary to operate it like that as long as the targeted prey is heavy enough.
I saw a recontrukted version of this trap in sweden and had the chance to test it.you are right about the way it works.
As I'm driving and maintaining a Peugeot VAN, especially whole clutch system, I need to share a comment relating to your opinion: *if there's a good, sturdy project of anything, expect someone else to reinvent it despite all the cost*
French from Peugeot made a clutch system which did fail after the fraction of its competitors' lifetime. Pedal mount is relying on a plastic tube, which (you guessed it) wears out, making a clutch cord to dismount and you to put it back on after 3 clutch uses, proudly singing Marseillaise.
If one design works well, expect to witness another design from someone else which just *works*
It seems to me it is a "double foot trap", these animals would get one leg stuck and push and paw at the item to try to release the trapped foot.
The free foot has the potential to be caught in the second hole of the two hole design, thereby the animal is practically immobilized and easily dispatched.
The trap looks like it is a surface trap which would just have a hole dug out under it, and it may lie across the trail which would be choked to force animals to tread onto the board/trap that may be covered with just some leafs.
My 2cents.
Very interesting, and nicely discussed Lindybeige.
very interesting.
highly informative.
thank you for sharing.
i always do love a good museum.
I think your surmise that the trap being perpetually shut until the weight of a suitable prey pushes on it is completely bang on.
I figure that once the ankle has gone past the edges of the door, attempting to pull the leg out is going to force the sides in tighter against the leg anyway, even without those holes or the teeth.
Nice point about automatic resetting if an animal escapes, too.
Our ancestors were smart and inventive folk- despite what the Von Daniken crowd like to claim.
How long did it take you to come to the conclusion that the trap works that way? It was extremely obvious how that trap was intended to be used just by looking at it.
from personal experience i can vouch for your take on how this would function. At work we have garbage cans inside cabinets the doors are spring loaded to swing shut after you throw trash in. rounded over steel on the bottom lip of the door and a smooth steel ramp for the trash to go down. I have a couple times pinched my finger in the door as it swings shut on your hand after letting go of the paper towel, then the force you apply pulling your hand out tensions the door more firmly against your finger as the action pulls the door shut more firmly as you attempt to remove your hand.
🎶"That itty bitty waist and that round thang in your face. YOU GET SPRUNG!!!"🎶
This is the most advanced CG I've seen in a Lindybeige video ever!!!
Horses are reluctant to walk over hollow ground covered by planks when they hear the resonance of their hooves not standing on solid ground.
This makes it likely that, unlike in your image, the whole trap was covered with earth and twigs to make it silent when the deer steps on it with a hole invisible from above until you have enough weight to set the trap off.
making the doors not quite need to apply too much pressure is pretty ingenious. a panicking deer is not likely to think of pushing them down.
but... you did mention the animal getting away, and it resetting. perhaps the trap was in some ways only to delay/injure to make for easier tracking of deer-sized animals. PregnantOrc also had a good idea about making the trap "light" enough to capture a smaller animal, which unlike the larger one would be much less likely to escape or damage the trap.
I have some reservations as to your theories. With most modern traps you don't want your trap rigidly secured, it gives the animal too much leverage to rip or tear their leg out. Usually you secure the trap via a chain or rope to a loose log or branch, this slows and tires the animal. Being a slab of wood itself, this trap could possibly function as its own drag. The other point regards the 'springs.' Its possible that they are strong enough that a deers weight would push them open, but the illustrations you present seem to show relatively formidable wooden limbs. My sense of scale of the trap may be off having not seen it in person or with a physical reference, but I feel the springing shut method may have some more merit.
+Jacob Reese Good point, and yet, it would have to be in a hole, bc if it was just laying on the ground, no deer would step on it, even a horse or cow wont step on something laying on the ground like that.
+LackadaisicalE
It has a fairly low profile, all you would need is maybe a hole underneath the door (not sure how far in the foot has to go on this) and cover it with some brush.
yu nofun True, true.
The other thing to consider is that a panicking animal may go a little sideways and break the leg at the ankle.
It makes sense, and if it was set into earthen walls like you suggest, then the animal will stumble/slide down towards the trap. If they did look down, they would assume its a stable platform to step on to get themselves up, but lo, the door will open and their hoof goes in, but is held fast by the nature of the door swinging down, but not up.