Sharecropping The Apocalypse: A Prepper is Cast Adrift (44 page)

‘What do we get if you lose?” Crick said speculatively looking over at Loomis to see if he was going to play along.

“I got a couple pints of that jet fuel I have been known to occasionally conjure up. Got myself a couple liters of real Coca Cola also to mix it with also so that’s a pretty sweet deal I am offering.” David said ready to parlay.

“That sounds to me to be a bit one sided, are you saying that you are going to tend your own fire while we all sit around and drink up your libations if you lose?” Loomis said looking for any hidden glitches in David’s favor he was sure were built into this deal somehow.

“Well yea, don’t you think that is fair man? Seems to me the only one sidedness about the bet is that it is all in your favor because you get to have a drink either way.” David said winking at Crick.

Crick didn’t know what David was up to but on the surface the deal sounded fair to him. What did he have to lose anyway? David probably had put a hell of a dent in the bottle of whiskey before he had even left his house and knowing him had most likely brought it along with him anyway for safekeeping or some other made up excuse. David would probably tell him he had brought what was left in the bottle with him as a favor to Crick because he just knew he had inadvertently forgot to bring it with him himself so that he and David could share it as a celebration of rescuing the survivors.

“Ok I am in, how about you Loomis? We got one more guess but David has to agree we are guessing what the majority of that box is, not every item. Seems like there is some light stuff sliding around over the heavy crap at the bottom of it.’  Crick said tapping on the lid of the crate like the sound it was giving off was giving him some kind of sonar indication.

“I guess so, are you sure Crick? David doesn’t always play nice you know and he tends to try for an advantage.”  Loomis said grinning at David who feigned indignation that he would make anything other than an honest bet.

“So it’s a deal then?” David said offering his hand to both man to seal the bet.

“I guess so.” They both chorused and went back to speculating after shaking hands.

Loomis and Crick conferred for a while in private trying to deduce just what in the hell David had stored in the mysterious wooden crate. Loomis thought it must be books, books that held knowledge that could solve their problems. Crick thought that was a good angle but since David was a writer that had authored a few books of his own on preparedness skills he couldn’t see David hauling around the extra weight of what he already carried in his head. No, David would have that box full of whatever parts he needed for whatever scheme he dreamed up.

“ I say you got a box full of them heavy duty conibear style traps.” Crick finally said.

“Nope! But there is a couple in there I am donating to the cause.” David said grinning.

“Ok so what’s in the box?” Crick asked

“Well you know how build a squirrel trap with picture hanging wire? Well I brought along the nuclear option for that task. We going to have us a rodent rodeo, Check it out. I got 1550 feet of that picture wire stuff stored for an occasion such as this. Yea I know, I am a prepper nerd, but be glad I plan for strange stuff like this.” David said proudly opening the box and pointing at a whole big industrial size spool of it.

“We need to organize the preppers to building traps all along the pasture line. I mean atomic Annie the hell out of it and put squirrel traps out like telegraph poles in every direction. Use the brush they will create or accumulate making squirrel poles and use it to make V shaped funnels on the edge of the woods to channel rabbits and other critters into more snares we can construct.

I don’t know how such a drastic move will affect the game population but it should take care of the food problem for several days and the excess can be smoked and cured for use later or as traveling rations for those that are going to try to bug back home. Leave a few 50 ft. wide or so clear pathways in between the long stretches of traps and snares for me though.

Quail snare

Small game noose

The other end of the pasture leading in leave alone entirely and I will show you how to rig some deer snares if you don’t already know how. You got to be careful where you place them and how many we set or you will screw up the deer herd and hunting around here for years. I have some commercial grade aircraft cable snares with cam locks for that. That kind of lock will choke them out quick; they use them for wolves in Alaska. Even though those things are strong they will be tore up and kinked beyond use after a few catches. I have ways of minimizing that snarling as well as releasing snare locks meant to just hold the animal until I get there to dispatch the animal also that have their purposes. For example in the summer time if it’s going to be awhile until I can get back to a set, keeping the animal alive will keep the meat from spoiling.

Several of these pole traps can be placed in areas where there are active squirrel signs or sightings, other places guesstimate about.

Refer to the diagrams above to see how a squirrel pole is made. The loops for the snare should be approximately three fingers in diameter. The wire length should be approximately 4 inches long after being tied off to the pole. This is to allow the squirrel to dangle far enough away from the pole when it falls so that it cannot reach the pole with its feet. If it is able to reach the pole, the squirrel can actually chew through the wire and escape.

The loops should be placed at different intervals around the pole. One pole can actually catch more than one squirrel.  The poles should be placed at an angle propped up against a tree that shows signs of squirrel usage. Squirrels are prone to take the easiest path up a tree, which would be the pole trap.
Traps should be checked at regular intervals so as not to leave a dead squirrel for too long of a period making it useless as food.

Cleaning a squirrel after you have trapped or shot it is a very simple process. Prior to cleaning any animal, ensure that you have any open cuts on your hands covered so that you don't get an infection of some type.

First thing to do is to cut the feet off at the first joint from the toes upward toward the body. Then remove the head.

Next, cut around the mid-section of the hide around the diameter of the body as shown in the diagram. Place two fingers under each side of the cut and pull the hide outward toward both ends of the body. This should remove the outer hide like pulling off a glove.

Next, cut down the center of the belly side from groin to neck. Remove the innards. You can eat the heart and liver. Ensure the liver has a smooth wet deep red appearance. Any other color may mean the animal is diseased and should be used as bait for larger prey or discarded.

Next, wash the carcass if water is available. When eating meat in a survival situation, it is important that you have water to help digest the meal.