Originally Posted By: Mark_R
Originally Posted By: Byrd_Huntr

Impossible to answer precisely, and this is one reason I prefer fishing, but here goes;

...

Incidently, better to forget the frustrating figure 4 traps and put a new wood-based rat trap in your backpack. Dirt cheap, lightweight, and will catch squirrels and small muskrats and rabbits. Drill a hole for a wire lanyard before you go. You can use the back as a cleaning board.


I just checked California DFG website. Apparently, body gripping traps are illegal for anything but pest control. A kill instantly trap could be interpreted as one since the criteria seems to be "held alive and unharmed" for anythig but pest control.

Quote:
4665.5 (c) It is unlawful for any person to trap for the purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any furbearing mammal or nongame mammal with any body-gripping trap. A body-gripping trap is one that grips the mammal's body or body part, including, but not limited to, steel-jawed leg-hold traps, padded-jaw leg-hold traps, conibear traps, and snares. Cage and box traps, nets, suitcase-type live beaver traps, and common rat and mouse traps shall not be considered body-gripping traps and may be used to trap for the purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any furbearing or nongame mammal.

Maybe fishing is a better idea...


We're talking survival aren't we? Rat traps are specifically excluded in the California statute you quoted but that aside, in a survival situation, you do whatever you need to to live. No one is going to challenge that. Besides, if they did arrest you and take you to jail, three hots and a cot sure beats eating dead mice.
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The man got the powr but the byrd got the wyng