Mantrap

Mantrap or man trap may refer to:

In devices:

In films:

In other media:

In geography

Mantrap (snare)

A mantrap is a mechanical physical security devices for catching poachers and trespassers. They have taken many forms, the most usual being like a large foothold trap, the steel springs being armed with teeth which met in the victim's leg. Since 1827, they have been illegal in England, except in houses between sunset and sunrise as a defence against burglars.

Other traps such as special snares, trap netting, trapping pits, fluidizing solid matter traps and cage traps could be used.

Mantraps that use deadly force are illegal in the United States, and there have been notable tort law cases where the trespasser has successfully sued the property owner for damages caused by the mantrap. There is also the possibility that such traps could endanger emergency service personnel such as firefighters who must forcefully enter such buildings during emergencies. As noted in the important US court case of Katko v. Briney, "the law has always placed a higher value upon human safety than upon mere rights of property."

Mantrap (novel)

Mantrap is a 1926 novel by Sinclair Lewis. One of Lewis' two unsuccessful novels of the 1920s, the other being The Man Who Knew Coolidge. Mantrap is the story of New York lawyer Ralph Prescott's journey into the wilds of Saskatchewan, and of his adventures there. The novel spawned two separate film adaptations, Mantrap (1926), and Untamed (1940).

The novel was dedicated to American broadcaster and journalist Frazier Hunt, a friend of Lewis.

Plot

Ralph Prescott, a lawyer with the New York City firm of Beasley, Prescott, Braun and Braun, is feeling the stress and strain of the demands placed on him by city and career. With a fellow club-member, E. Wesson Woodbury, he decides to travel west into the Canadian wilderness for a vacation of fishing and canoeing. Woodbury has made the arrangements, and all that Prescott need do is show up.

Travelling by train through Winnipeg, the duo make their way to the Flambeau River, then to the former logging town of Whitewater. Although Prescott impresses his travelling companion with his handling of a surly innkeeper, the two are already finding themselves to be incompatible. Woodbury chides Prescott over his decision, for example, to carry a pillow in his gear.