Cable Restraints

Cable restraints are cable devices that are designed for capturing furbearers in a manner that holds them unharmed and alive until the trapper returns to the set.

• Cable restraints are similar in appearance to snares but differ in that cable restraints are:
  • Often used in dry land sets and…
  • Operate passively by using the movement of the animal to trigger the device and…
  • Use relaxing locks to provide relief for the captured animal when it quits pulling.
• Because the captured animal is alive and unharmed in a cable restraint set, the trapper can choose to:
  • Release the animal (non-target) unharmed into the wild or…
  • Dispatch the animal (target) and process it for its fur, hide, or other products.
• When cable restraints are properly constructed and deployed, they will cause little harm to the animal or its fur.
• In Pennsylvania:
  • Cable restraints can also be used in water sets for beavers and river otters.
  • It is illegal to use a cable restraint in a set that would allow entanglement.