HUN Chapter 22: Fresh Branch Trap

On the morning of the thirtieth day, Lin Yu'an had a simple breakfast, put on his rain pants, took his equipment, and came to the beaver area he had observed yesterday.

This was a beaver dam made of mud and branches near the riverbank, with some beaver-gnawed branches faintly visible on the water surface.

He crouched down, lowering his upper body as much as possible, carefully observing underwater. In the murky stream water, he vaguely saw a dark opening about thirty to forty centimeters in diameter at the base of the dam.

"This is the place," Lin Yu'an said in a low voice.

He took out several hardwood stakes with sharpened ends from his space, along with slightly thicker steel wire made by twisting multiple strands of steel fishing line together, which would have superior toughness and strength.

He cut about two meters of steel wire and began making the first snare.

First, he bent one end of the steel wire about five centimeters, then used the other end to wrap tightly around this bent section, coil pressing against coil, forming an extremely solid small steel ring.

Next, he threaded the other end of the steel wire through this small steel ring, and an adjustable slip knot was formed!

He repeatedly pulled and tested to ensure the snare could tighten smoothly under force, and that the small steel ring wouldn't deform or come loose under excessive tension. He adjusted the snare's diameter to be slightly larger than the opening, about forty to fifty centimeters.

Then came securing the snare and setting the trigger. He picked up a stake about one meter long to use as an "anchor stake."

He then tied the non-slip end of the steel wire snare to the anchor stake at about one-third from the non-sharp end, using steel wire combined with tough thin vines in a fisherman's knot that could withstand enormous pulling force.

"This anchor stake must be solid. Beavers have considerable strength, and if it's not securely fixed, they could easily drag the trap away."

After completing the anchor stake connection, he first carefully observed from shore to confirm no beavers were active nearby, then put on his rain pants and chose a relatively calm spot to enter the water.

He began setting the trap at the underwater den entrance, gently inserting the hardwood stakes diagonally into the mud on both sides of the opening underwater.

Then, he used flexible aquatic plants with colors similar to the underwater environment to very loosely suspend the slip knot portion of the steel wire snare between these two support stakes.

This way, the snare's opening directly faced the den entrance while maintaining a natural open state, and slight water disturbances wouldn't easily displace it.

He adjusted the hanging points and tension several times to ensure that once a beaver's head or most of its body entered the snare, slight contact would cause the snare to slip from the aquatic plant hanging points and quickly tighten under the anchor stake's pull!

Most importantly, he placed multiple fresh, tender branches as bait at key positions of the snare. No beaver could resist the temptation of fresh tender branches.

Just like no normal man could resist the temptation of "minors prohibited from clicking to enter."

Lin Yu'an held the camera and explained, "The key to this trap is naturalness and sensitivity. There can't be any traces that make beavers uncomfortable or alert, otherwise those clever fellows won't be fooled."

He carefully checked the snare's opening angle, distance from the opening, and trigger sensitivity to ensure everything was foolproof.

After completing the first snare setup, he used the same meticulous method to set a second steel wire snare at another narrow underwater passage where beavers likely passed.

The entire process took Lin Yu'an more than half an hour.

"Alright, two underwater steel wire snare traps have been deployed."

"I hope these highly concealed traps will make beavers who have never encountered humans unable to resist the temptation of fresh tender branches during their underwater activities!"

"The steel wire's strength and our designed anchor stakes should be sufficient to handle their struggles. Let's wait and see!"

"But remember one thing, 'No one is immune to the beaver's curse.' In the wild, unless necessary, it's better not to provoke beavers!"

Lin Yu'an didn't linger at the spot. He quickly cleaned all traces left on the shore, then quietly retreated deep into the forest.

Now the only thing to do was wait patiently. Beavers usually are active at dusk and night, so he decided to check the trap results the next morning.

From afternoon to evening, Lin Yu'an mainly spent time collecting and storing firewood for winter and simply clearing weeds around the shelter.

He also prepared to make a sturdy wooden door for the shelter, weave wooden frames with willow branches, continue trying to fish, fire ceramic grills, and so on. In the wilderness, there were always endless chores to do.

In the evening, he ate some stored food and crawled into his sleeping bag with his tired body.

When the next day barely dawned.

Lin Yu'an put on his rain pants again and headed to the stream. This time, his mood was even more nervous and anticipatory than when setting the traps!

He still first observed from a concealed position on shore. The water surface appeared even more profound in the early morning! But there were churning water splashes in the calm water!

Lin Yu'an carefully stepped into the water and moved toward the first trap with the splashing water.

When he approached the first den entrance, his heart suddenly jumped. He felt his probing stick touch something!

Immediately after, he touched the top of the wooden stake that served as an anchor marker, and the steel wire connected to it was unnaturally taut and straight, with slight vibrations from an underwater object struggling!

"Got one!"

Lin Yu'an was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to catch a live beaver!

He bent down and completely submerged his arms in the icy water, feeling along the taut steel wire into the murky water.

Soon, his waterproof glove fingertips contacted a furry mass violently twisting and struggling underwater!

The steel wire snare had tightened around a beaver's midsection, near the front limbs!

This beaver had obviously been caught recently. Due to the steel wire snare's toughness, the more it struggled, the tighter the snare became. The anchor stake connected to the snare had been dragged out of position by its enormous strength! But the wooden stake still effectively prevented the beaver's escape.

This wild beaver was obviously extremely panicked and angry at this sudden restraint.

It frantically rolled and kicked in the water, trying to bite through that damned steel wire, but its sharp teeth were useless against the hard steel wire, instead causing the snare to tighten further.

Lin Yu'an didn't hesitate for a moment and quickly drew the multi-tool knife from his waist.

With one hand gripping the steel wire tightly to steady the constantly thrashing beaver, and with his understanding of beaver anatomy, he decisively thrust the sharp multi-tool knife accurately toward its neck artery!

"Grunt! Whimper!"

"Grunt! Whimper!"

The beaver made deep roars with complex emotions, seemingly warning its companions to flee quickly!

A stream of warm red liquid instantly spread through the icy stream water. The beaver's struggles suddenly weakened, and after a few convulsions, it completely went still.

Only then did Lin Yu'an breathe a sigh of relief and freed the dead beaver from the tight snare.

This was an unusually plump adult beaver, larger than he had expected. It felt heavy in his hands, probably at least twenty pounds.

Lin Yu'an dragged the beaver ashore, his face unable to hide his excitement as he showed the hard-won prey to the camera.

"Guys, look at this build! The first one caught a big fellow!"

After the adrenaline gradually subsided, Lin Yu'an thought of the beaver's dying cries and began to feel uncomfortable.

But he quickly adjusted his emotions. This was the wilderness, this was nature, killing was for survival! It completely aligned with survival of the fittest.

The only thing he could do was thank this beaver in front of the camera.

"Sorry, brother, I'm also trying to survive! Thank you for your sacrifice! Thank you, nature!"

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