Assess the Situation

• 1). Determine if it's even legal for you to remove the animal from the trap before proceeding. Regardless of your opinion about trapping, catching certain species of wild animals with a variety of types of traps is legal and regulated by state wildlife agencies. Most trappers set their traps only during open seasons and in places where they have permission to use them. Interfering with or releasing animals from legally set traps is illegal in most states.
  
  
• 2). Approach the animal with caution. Most traps cause very little pain to the animals caught in them. Wild animals are often asleep when you find them; domestic animals may seem happy and eager to see you. However, the fear associated with their unusual method of being confined makes them untrustworthy to approach unprepared.
  
  
• 3). Procure a pair of leather gloves and one of the other items, either a catch pole, sheet of plywood or heavy blanket or tarp before approaching the animal.
  
  

Choose the Tool and Release

• 1). Choose which of the release tools you plan to use. A catch pole is a specialized tool many trappers carry. It is an adjustable noose on the end of a 5- or 6-foot-long pole.
  The size of the piece of plywood needed is determined by the size of the animal. Releasing a cat-sized or opossum-sized animal is possible with a 2-by-2-foot square board. Raccoons or small dogs can be safely handled with a 3-by-3, while coyotes or large dogs require a 4-by-4-foot sheet of plywood.
  Cats, very small dogs and small wild mammals can also be released by covering with a thick coat, blanket or tarp.
  
  
• 2). Confine or isolate the animal with one of the above release aids. Slip the noose of the catch pole over the trapped animal's head and then tighten snugly around its neck. Use the pole to hold the animal's head away from your hands while loosening the trap.
  Approach the trapped animal with the plywood held close to the ground between you and the animal. Back the animal away until the foot being held by the trap is under the wood on your side of the board while the rest of the animal is on the other side.
  Throw the tarp or blanket over the animal and use it to pin the animal to the ground keeping you away from claws or teeth. Work the animal's trapped foot to the edge of the cover.
  
  
• 3). Release the animal's foot from the trap by depressing the springs or levers which actuate the mechanism.