Trapping around People and Pets
What’s
changed? Changes in wildlife populations in and around
public areas and or are public areas around wildlife. The bridge you
have always trapped under for mink and Raccoons now is in sight of
two subdivisions, complete with eight-year-old boys and free roaming
or temporarily escaped pets.
The
landscape has changed and people habits and values are always
changing. For sure we know that you have no idea who else is there.
Legal
or Right, there is a difference. Even if a method is
legal to use the choice to use it is the trappers, as well as the
consequences. Yes I can and I have a right to do it will not carry
very far in the court of public opinion. Recently 3-20-12, I learned
that the latest ploy to ban traps is to demand that Children be kept
safe from Traps. There is no documented case anywhere anytime that a
child has ever been captured in a foot hold trap, yet the CT
legislature thinks it necessary to create laws to protect children
for the danger of these traps and therefore they must be banned?
Comes down to public opinion, to protect your right to use these
tools we must protect them for Public Opinion. Some regulatory
agencies understand the need to protect these tools and will stand up
to say while others have been beat up so bad over the years that they
take the path of least resistance. We need to think about why and
where we use devices so that we maintain the choice to use them.
Because:
Even
if you are Legal you might be Wrong in the Court of Public Opinion.
Many unfair regulations have been enacted based on a single event.
One emotional accident can cause unfair changes affecting many
aspects of wildlife management. Indiscrete drowning of a raccoon has
caused a lot of regulatory changes in CT. And the outlawing of
bodygrip traps in NE was all about a domestic animal being captured
in an illegally set trap…… by an illegally roaming Dog.
How
to decide if People or Pets might be exposed to your equipment.
Today’s
technologies provide many options, however Personal interviews should
not be excluded from your investigations. You must speak to those
other than the one doing the hiring; an agenda might cover relevant
facts. After you have gathered information, verify it!! That is
where technologies come in. Trail cameras are available at all price
ranges. Some send the pictures to you VIA text messaging. It pays
to delay and evaluate. Google Maps and other software are available
free and can be used to provide a very detailed overview of the area
around the complainants’ site or potential trapping area.
Farmer
says “Sure I need them coyotes gone and there are no pets around my
house.” A quick Google map review shows a subdivision of fifty new
houses at the far end of his 600 acre property. Safe to set? Sure,
but now you have information on where to set and what type of set or
trap to use. Reverse the situation and assume the neighborhood
called you to help trap Coyotes killing dogs in the neighborhood.
Back up out of the neighborhood, seek permission from land owner to
set traps on the 600 acre farm away from the other pets to target the
offending Coyotes. In the neighborhood you can assume other dogs and
pets are free roaming and would limit the types of traps possible to
use. Trap on the farm away from the neighborhood and use the most
effective traps available for Canine….Footholds. If it is not a
possibility, then you can choose to use a species-specific trap such
as the Collarum and set in the
backyards targeting only canines.
So the
main points are to know the attributes of your equipment, i.e. is it
species specific and what species might be exposed to the device.
.
Learn How to minimize the real risk and the
perceived risk.
Set
construction; such as covering a groundhog hole to prevent the
entrance of Cats or Dogs and still maintaining the effectiveness of
the 220 or 160 you placed in the hole. Cover with a half-bucket or
simple sheet of hardware cloth. A very simple cheap way of using
effective tools and avoiding domestic animals in downtown suburbia or
on the remote trapline.
Capture Specific Targets Animals
while avoiding others with:
- Set construction.
Considering
the physical space and motions of target animal to limit other
possible captures. i.e. Set made off the ground will avoid all
canines. Traps that are small and very close to attractant will
effectively capture Fox and avoid all large domestic Dogs (Labs).
Set with a step down (Trench) will be available to canines and
avoided by livestock.
b.
Equipment available.
Species-specific
devices, i.e. Collarum,, Dog
Proof traps of varied designs are new and very effective. Learn
about them and their uses. Snares are one of the oldest tools
available and most misunderstood. Definitions and legal wording of
regulations prohibit some of the most advanced tools today. They can
be as passive as putting a collar and leash on an animal by the
simple action of an animal walking down a path. The animal is
restrained by the act of the collar closing from the pressure of its
body against the cable. The closing can be stopped at any place on
the cable with a stop. As an example a snare can be placed in a
trail and the coyote or Dog walks along and its head goes thru the
snare and the upper part of its body makes contact with h lower edge
of the snare loop and the loop closes. The closure stops at the
“stop” or the neck of the animal. Now it is on a leash. If
nothing is there to entangle, or jump over, or put continued pressure
than the animal is there live, to deal with upon arrival. In a
city/urban environment that means a twelve to 24 hour check and
release or removal of the animal. In a remote area with no chance of
capturing a domestic animal the animal is alive and vulnerable to
predation by eagles, Lions, Larger predators. In the rural areas
that do not have the risk of non-targets then a lethal snare would be
a much more humane option, however back in the city, around People
and Pets, a Non Lethal Snare, some times called a cable restraint is
an absolute must use. Learn about snares, there components and
attributes that make them lethal verses non lethal as the situation
calls for..
c.
Baits and Lures.
Understand
the intended reaction of lures/baits from animals and how this can be
used to lessen the attractiveness to others, i.e. sweet lures are
less attractive to Canines and still very attractive to other
predators like Skunks and Raccoons. If you are targeting an
aggressive Coyote in spring, a blended flat set with Gland Lure and
coyote urine will be very aggressively be worked by a Coyote. A food
lure set (dirt hole) would be a maybe, at best for an aggressive
Coyote, however very attractive to Raccoons, so if your target was
the Coyote it would be better to use the Gland Lure/Urine combination
verses a food lure. Trapping with cages are much more forgiving if a
non target is captured, however if you are trapping Raccoons in or
near areas that are also frequented by people and pets why not use a
newer DP from Duke, a Lil Griz or Dagger and eliminate the chance of
capturing a Dog, legal or not.
Please
provide your thoughts and ideas that might help share this message to
WCO’s and Fur Trappers.
Tim
Julien
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