By Allen Hamrick, for entertainment purposes only
Hey folks, it’s Zeb here as promised. I am unfolding my knife to give out some pointers on old time whittlin’. With ol’ man winter chokin’ out our john boats and a freeze freezin’ the rivers in their tracks, there’s not much to do till we thaw out. It is a good time to get prepared for when the sun does come out to heat up the hills and valleys and thaw out the fish in the river. So, what I will be doin’ today is whittlin’ a trap that has been used ever since I can remember. I guess ever since Granny Izzle was a kid and maybe even farther than that. Maybe even when those two legged cat fish came about. Here in this neck of the woods it’s still a trap used by many to rid their houses of varmints and such. The Indians used it to trap many animals for food. Durin’ my grandpa’s days, it was the go to trap for catching anything from rabbits to crocodiles.
First, you drive a stake into the ground then whittle a chisel point on the end of it. Next, whittle the stick on a 45 degree angle like I did to set on top of the chisel end you just whittled. Then carve the stick that kinda lays horizontal with a notch to fit in the diagonal sticks point like shown. Once it is all whittled as shown, all that is left to do is to lean a heavy object like a log agin’ the top point on the diagonal stick as shown. Once that’s done, sit back and wait for the varmints to take the bait. This is an easy whittle to do and is good at what it does. If you are stuck out in the woods or something, a trap like this could mean life or death to you or your party. It is a lot of fun to make so give it a try and be safe with the knife. Next time, we will whittle a bear. Until then keep a sharp edge…Zeb.
