Abstract: An animal trap having a pair of elongated rods joined to jaws that are bias to a closed position with a coil spring. The coil spring is concentrically located about a pivot pin that pivotally joins the mid-sections of the rods together. An over-centered toggle trip mechanism is pivotally connected to the rods to hold the jaws in their open position. The trip mechanism has a trigger operable by the animal to be trapped to move the over-center toggle trip mechanism to a position wherein it collapses whereby the spring biases the jaws to their closed positions.

Abstract: An animal trap having a pair of arcuate rod-like jaws that are biased to a closed position with a torsion coil spring. One jaw is integral with a first rod attached to a base. The other jaw is attached to a second rod pivotally mounted on the first rod with a sleeve. The coil torsion spring is concentrically located about the sleeve and rod and has a first end engageable with the base and a second end engageable with the second jaw so as to bias the jaws to their closed position. A trigger mechanism having a trip plate cooperating with a pivotal arm is used to releasably hold the jaws in their open position. A member connected to the jaws engages the arm so that the biasing force of the spring will hold the trip plate in its set position. When the trip plate is moved from its set position, the arm is released so that the spring will close the jaws. In one form of the invention, the trap has two pairs of jaws that are concurrently biased to their closed positions with pairs of coil torsion springs.