9781422287804

12 Surviving by Trapping, Fishing, & Eating Plants

Make Connections: CANADIAN FORCES’ HUNTING TIPS

Canada’s Special Forces troops are very good at locating animals for food in the frozen parts of their country by being alert and aware of animal habits. They look for: • Trails beaten down by heavy use. • Tracks, which can provide information on the type, size, age, and sex of animals. • Droppings, a good indicator of animal type and size. • Feeding grounds and water holes, good sites for hunting in the early morning or evening. • Dens, holes, and food stores, good sites for setting traps.

Elite troops are trained to set traps correctly in order to catch animals. The following traps are all effective .

Snares A snare is a wire or string loop placed in such a way that an animal is forced to put its head through it. The snare will then tighten, thus killing the animal (although not always immediately). If an elite soldier is setting snares, he or she checks them regularly. It is unfortunate that a snare designed to strangle one type of animal may sometimes catch another by a leg and not kill it immediately. In this case, the animal may bite off its own limb to escape, or attract the attention of