Mantrap (Snare)

A mantrap is a mechanical trap built to catch poachers, thieves, and other trespassers, most commonly shaped like an oversized foothold trap whose spring-loaded steel jaws, sometimes fitted with teeth, clamp shut on a person leg. Landowners set them on estates and around buildings to guard property, and soldiers in the First World War reported encountering them in no man land. England outlawed mantraps in 1827 except inside a house between sunset and sunrise for defense against burglars, and later court rulings, including the American case Katko v. Briney, held that the value of human safety outweighed a landowner interest in protecting mere property, exposing owners to liability for the harm the devices caused.