Ensuring balanced nutrition is required in Project Zomboid, as it keeps your character surviving in a normal condition.
While looting is getting more scarce and farming only provides vegetables, the trapping skill becomes essential for getting protein sources.
Recommended Read: How to Get and Siphon Gas in Project Zomboid
This guide covers trapping and shows you how to use the trap skill in Project Zomboid.
To use the trap skill In Project Zomboid, you must first learn how to craft traps by choosing the Park Ranger occupation or Hiker and Hunter trait or by finding and reading the Hunter Magazine. Next, you need to prepare materials to craft the traps and bait to lure the animals. Finally, place the traps outside and wait.
Table of Contents
How to Use the Trap Skill in Project Zomboid
Trapping in Project Zomboid requires you to set up traps and capture animals. Using various traps strategically, you can catch animals, which can be butchered to provide sustainable food sources.
First, let’s learn about the required recipes and materials!
Learn Recipes
The most important part of trapping is making a trap. In Project Zomboid, all traps are craftable, but you can’t craft them unless you read a specific magazine or choose the proper occupation and traits.
In Project Zomboid, there are 1 profession and 2 traits that are related to the trapping skill:
- Park Ranger (Occupation): +2 trapping skill levels, unlock all trap recipes.
- Hiker (Trait): +1 trapping skill level, know the snare, stick, and wooden crate trap recipes.
- Hunter (Trait): +1 trapping skill level, unlock all trap recipes.
That said, picking this combination grants you 4 levels of trapping skill and all trap recipes.
In case you prefer other traits or occupations, you need to find and read the Hunter Magazine (vol 1, vol 2, and vol 3) to learn all the recipes.
All magazines are randomly found in mailboxes, lockers, bookshelves, and post offices.
Once you complete these steps, click on the hammer and ruler icon on the left side of your screen to open the crafting window, then select the “Trapper” tab to see all 5 trap recipes.
Prepare Materials And Baits
Although each trap is used to catch different animals, some share the same required materials. Particularly, you need the following:
- Wire: 5 wires are required to craft a cage trap. You can find wire in toolsheds, garages, and warehouses.
- Saw: A saw can be found in storage crates or residential garages.
- Sturdy stick: The primary material in crafting stick traps. You must use a saw to convert planks into sturdy sticks.
- Nails: Nails can be found in hardware stores, factories, and tool sheds.
- Planks: You can find planks in storage buildings, sheds, or warehouses. Alternatively, you can dismantle furniture to get planks.
- Twine: Used to craft snare and stick traps. You can find twines in sheds, tool stores, and vehicles.
Some traps require certain levels of trapping skill to craft, except for stick traps and wooden box traps. Therefore, crafting these two traps is recommended when you’re at a low trapping level.
Next, you need different baits to attract different animals. For example, the best baits to catch birds are worms or bread, while carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes are ideal for rabbits.
Check out the table below to find out which type of bait is used to catch each animal, as well as how to find them.
| Bait | Mouse | Rat | Bird | Squirrel | Rabbit | Where to Find |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | x | x | Foraging | |||
| Banana | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays | ||||
| Bell Pepper | x | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays | |||
| Bread | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays, restaurants | ||||
| Cereal | x | x | Kitchen counters | |||
| Cabbage | x | Farming, foraging | ||||
| Carrot | x | Farming, foraging | ||||
| Cheese | x | x | Refrigerators | |||
| Chocolate | x | x | Kitchen counters, grocery stores | |||
| Cockroach | x | Bins, crates, foraging | ||||
| Cooked Popcorn | x | Kitchen counters, movie theaters | ||||
| Corn | x | x | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays, foraging | ||
| Cricket | x | Foraging | ||||
| Grasshopper | x | Foraging | ||||
| Lettuce | x | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays | |||
| Orange | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays | ||||
| Peach | x | x | Refrigerators, grocery displays | |||
| Peanuts | x | Foraging | ||||
| Peanut Butter | x | x | x | Kitchen counters | ||
| Potato | x | Farming | ||||
| Tomato | x | x | x | Farming, foraging | ||
| Worm | x | Dig furrows or Composters |
Keep in mind that the bait must be fresh to be used. So, try to put the baits inside the refrigerator while you’re building traps.
Craft Traps
In Project Zomboid, there are a total of 5 traps. The table below provides the required materials you need to craft them (assuming you read all 3 Hunter magazines or pick the correct occupation and traits).
| Trap | Materials | Skill Level Required |
|---|---|---|
| Cage Trap | 5 Wires | 3 Trapping |
| Snare Trap | 1 Saw 1 Plank 2 Twines | 1 Trapping |
| Stick Trap | 4 Sturdy Sticks 2 Twines | None |
| Trap Box | 1 Saw 4 Planks 7 Nails | 2 Trapping 1 Carpentry |
| Wooden Box Trap | 1 Saw 3 Planks 5 Nails | None |
Ensure you get enough of the required materials and skill level. Next, open the crafting window, select the trap, and select “Craft One” or “Craft All”.
Place The Trap
Once you’ve got the trap in your inventory, find a place that is at least 75 tiles from your base to put it, or you’ll catch nothing. Also, try not to put the traps near the places you frequently visit.
The best place to catch rabbits or squirrels is in deep forest areas, while farms or towns have the highest chance of catching birds.
Check out the following table to learn where to put the trap for each type of animal.
| Animal | Cage Trap | Snare Trap | Stick Trap | Trap Box | Wooden Box Trap | Mouse Trap | Ideal Trap Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mouse | x | Trailer Park, Town, Farm | |||||
| Rat | x | Trailer Park, Town, Farm | |||||
| Bird | x | All over the place | |||||
| Squirrel | x | x | x | x | Forest, Deep Forest | ||
| Rabbit | x | x | x | x | Forest, Deep Forest |
Generally, traps that require a higher trapping level offer a higher percentage of catching animals successfully. For example, the cage trap has a 40% chance of successfully catching a rabbit, while the wooden box trap only has a 25% chance.
Each trap has a different strength, indicating its durability before destruction. For instance, the mouse trap has 50 strengths, while the snare trap only has 10.
To place a trap, go out and find the corresponding trap zone, then right-click on the ground and select “Place Trap” => “<Trap Name>”, then choose the tile you want to put.
To add bait, right-click on the trap and select “Add Bait” => “<Bait Name>”.
It’s advisable to check the trap daily, as there’s a chance of it being destroyed by zombies (especially when an animal is inside). Not to mention that it can also break naturally over time.
As the default mechanic, traps can catch the rabbit or squirrel between 7:00 PM and 5:00 AM, while birds, mice, or rats can be caught at any time.
After a while, you can return to the trap, right-click on it, and select “Check Trap”. The caught animal will be automatically transferred to your inventory afterward.
That’s all you need to know about the trapping guide and how to use the trap skill in Project Zomboid.
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