Yes, you are, although the leg hold traps usually have smooth edges. The older toothed jaws are collectors items now, because of the danger to pets, children, and the trapper himself.

You can see some examples of steel traps here . I usually use #1 long spring or #1 double jaw coil spring traps for muskrat and muskrat-raccoon combination sets (which are always attached to drowning rigs). Skunk, opossum, and land raccoon sets usually get a 1 1/2 trap. Most catalogs will list what animals are targeted with each trap, which is a pretty useful guideline for the beginner.

Here are some examples of live-catch traps. And here is a video on how to construct a simple box trap . And see this video also. You really don't need a lot of skills to construct one of these simple box traps. I was doing it when I was a kid, and I'm certainly no carpenter. And there are kits available for turning buckets, barrels, and even pvc pipe into traps, though I've never tried any of them.

Some authors such as Ragnar Benson really dislike coil spring traps, because they tend to weaken over time. They do, but beefer and replacement kits are available to replace the springs if they do weaken. I've been using some of my coil spring traps for years, and they still work well. The reason I prefer long spring traps, I think, is just because I'm an old fart. I was using long spring traps when I was a kid. They're a little harder to work with but, if you take care of them, they'll last longer than I will.

Onward and upward,
airforce