Ever notice when there's two ponds, or a pond and a creek/river close to each other.
That muskrats will have a trail going between them?
Now have you seen two trails close to each other?
Look close and you just might see the grass pushed in one direction, and the other trail the grass will be pushed in the opposite direction?
I noticed that on two ponds , set up a slide cable on each one, that went into deep water, set short snares/cable restraints with locks that could only go back the way they came.
The idea was to catch them , and they would go into deep water, and the trail would still be open for the next snare to catch another one.
Only caught one going on one of them, but only set for one day/night.
Still think it would work.
Haven't seen another setup like it since.
Muskrats are easy to snare, and they stay right on the trail , they never ruin the snare either.
Set about a 2 1/2 - 3 inch snare dead center in the trail, two fingers off the ground, about 1 1/2 - 2 inches . Anything higher and they step into it along with their head, and you catch them with a leg and around the head/neck, they fight longer and some times are still alive.
Drowned , they are fine, dry land they get water head. But they are dead when you find them .

Forgot to add that the drownder cable was staked up high enough so that they would go back down into the deep water.

Never bothered with the slide part as I usually didnt have enough good cover for a snare to run multiple snares on a rat trail, let alone have enough rats in a pond to justify multiple snares.

Dry grassy crossovers on beaver dams will produce plenty of rats in late fall.
I set them with 120s same as a beaver trap,onlu two willow sticks size of pinkie.
Catch mink in the crossovers too.
Some old dams will have a bunch of dry crossovers,set them all.
And if there is lots of rat sign set a funnel traps below the dam in the main channells

True anymore, few rats anywhere, but this was years ago when snares were first legal in Ohio.
No cover is needed, as long as it's dead center on the trail, weather in grass or snow, they go right in it.
I used to love doing that.
So many couldn't believe that I caught them in a snare.

i liked to have cover to keep the hawks off em more than anything.

True , and mink will get caught in a snare also.
Funnel traps are in water sets, and work much the same as a colony trap, being they're the same principial .
I used to put wings on colony traps, worked on extra wide under water trails.
LOL It's a thrill to see a mink fighting your snare, they have very strong necks, and don't give up.

True again, only had one muskrat taken by an eagle, took trap and all, found parts of the muskrat, but never found the trap.
Reason I believe it was an egal is because I put the ring on a small willow that was only about 1/2 inch thick, but very tall .
Figured a rat wouldn't be able to get it off that willow about 5 foot tall.
Saw an eagle setting in a big tree watching me check traps about the same time.

Mink prices are pretty low right now,cant imagine what one damaged from a snare would bring.

If you have otter around there should be otter crossovers as well.

All the mink I caught didn't have a snare mark like a beaver gets.
They fleshed with no mark.