would 20 gauge brass wire work for rabbits and squirrels and possibly some muskrats? looking to make some for my survival pack but i want to do some testing

I use what the hardware store calls "Picture Wire". It's small gauge galvanized wire. Works fine for our big Snowshoe Hares. Brass works great for squirrels but I would not trust it for rats or rabbits. Most hardware stores carry it and the package actually says Picture Wire on it. I think it's a little heavy for squirrels. Our red squirrels are tiny little things. That's why I use brass for squirrels.

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Brass wire is junk - rabbits twist off a lot. Picture cord is old school. We use 22 gauge stainless steel. Get it in 1 lb. rolls or smaller if not doing a lot of snaring.

Snare a lot of rabbits (snowshoe hares) around here and 22 gauge is the wire of choice for most all people for years since we have been able to get it. Can reuse no issue unless rabbit puts a kink in it and then discard as much easier to break after that.

24 ga brass here for varying hare.

Nichrome wire is considered the best here for bunny snares (it's relatively expensive but old heater coils will work). It's very resistant to breaking even if the wire is all kinked up. Double strand for 22 to 26 gauge wire, single strand for 15-20 gauge will hold a 10 lbs mountain hare or an incidental fox. Your snowshoe hares are much smaller so a single strand 24 gauge wire should be enough. Stainless steel wire is a bit worse. Galvanized steel wire nowadays is often unpredictably brittle so we use at least 18-20 gauge double wire and they still sometimes twist it off even with good neck catches, even if they don't run away far afterwards and die nearby. I've seen older people use rebar tie wire (black) for snares but nowadays it's mostly Chinese-made and too soft and fragile, and not even worth bothering with. I haven't heard of anyone using brass/copper wires for snares here.

I use 24 gauge brass wire for red squirrels on a running pole but for snowshoe hares we use picture frame wire which works good. I've also used lift poles for rabbits which works well but is more time consuming. Gray squirrels and fox squirrels are bigger than red squirrels so not sure how well the brass wire would work for them but picture frame wire would hold them.

I’m Not even sure the gauge but we used to double the brass wire and twist it. I used to set a lot of snares for our snowshoe hare growing up but I can’t even remember the last time I did that. I sure like hunting them in late September and they seem to taste better to me when shot. Maybe something to do with Adrenalin and duration of expiring? Bled out meat? Could be faster cooling of the meat by gutting right away as opposed to cooling off and freezing with guts in.

Snaring rabbits is mostly done by the older women and kids.
When rabbits are high I always set some rabbit snares when trapping.
Only takes a minute or two to place a few snares on a run.
Snare some behind the cabin too at the ash pile pen.

Interesting same here back in the day. Rabbits were what the women and kids caught around handy to where ever people were living whether in cabins or tents. Men off further and often gone a long while and after other stuff.

And remember what I said earlier. People here threw away brass and picture cord a long time ago. .22 gauge stainless steel wire the last word on rabbit/snowshoe hare wire. Super easy to set and can be used multiple times as long as does not kink and rabbits do not bust off often. [b][/b]

Never really looked for stainless steel snarewire,will have to find it.
I have used stovepipe wire in a pinch-it works but is too stiff to work good.

Got a huge roll of picture frame wire, maybe when that runs out many years from now we'll try the stainless. Still waiting for the rabbits to come back after the crash.