Answer: An early rat or muskrat smoker to "drive 'em out in a hurry."
The top of the bulb end opens up to put in a few lit smoke-generating tablets, and the contraption is then snaked down the hole via the hard wire cable. This would work well on very simple and short burrows, but on complicated settes the cable would not make the curve. 
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Looks like something that one would put a smoke bomb in and then fish down a burrow?
ReplyDeleteTo either bolt the quarry or poison it?
A sort of censer-from-hell.
We think it's a snare. A very savage one. The critter comes in for the bait, which is stuffed into the "handle" end there, and gets fouled up in the barbs, tries to run, gets caught or at least starts leaking blood so it's easier to track down, esp. in snow? So that's our guess. Awful looking thing.
ReplyDeleteStock tannk heater.
ReplyDeletewire of the clutch of the machine for the construction of traps
ReplyDeletedangerous even for dogs!
Mirko
Come on Patrick, give it up!
ReplyDeleteThis thing has been bugging me for days.