TRAP FOR CAPTURING ANIMALS

: The invention relates to an animal trap having at least two shackles preferably produced from flat or rod iron, such shackles being situated opposite each other in plate hinges and turnable therein about mutually offset pins and maintained under tension by springs. Both hinge sheets are separated from each other by means of a connecting web that forms the medial longitudinal axis of the trap. A release mechanism is attached to the connecting web and is held in such a way as to be capable of movement. The release mechanism has an element suitable for accepting bait, which release mechanism, when the trap is in the primed position, acts with a first one of the shackles in order to lock the trap in such a position. By means of the offset placement of the pins, one shackle acts as a stationary shackle while the second shackle acts as a striking shackle, inasmuch as the latter strikes the animal, killing the latter in the appropriate spot.