I have seen as many as five of these traps on a single
side of a sementera not more than 30 feet square. The trap has a
closely woven, wooden dead fall, about 10 or 15 inches square; one
end is set on the path and the other is supported in the air above
it by a string. One end of this string is fastened to a tall stick
planted in the earth, the lower end is tied to a short stick --
a part of the "spring" held rigid beneath the dead fall until the
trigger is touched. The dead fall drops when the rat, in touching
the trigger, releases the lower end of the cord. The animal springs
the trigger either by nibbling a bait on it or by running against it,
and is immediately killed, since the dead fall is weighted with stones.
Sementeras near some forested mountains in the Bontoc area are pestered
with monkeys. Day and night people remain on guard against them in
lonely, dangerous places -- just the kind of spot the head-hunter
chooses wherein to surprise his enemy.
All border sementeras in every group of fields are subject to the
night visits of wild hogs. In some areas commanding piles of earth
for outlooks are left standing when the sementeras are constructed. In
other places outlooks are erected for the purpose.
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