Trapping Controversy in Nova Scotia

The conflict between trapping and pets is often misunderstood and severely damaging to the future of legal trapping in North America.  Pets are occasionally caught in traps set for furbearing wildlife, and each incident is heartfelt and depressing, usually stirring up controversy over whether trapping should be legal or not.

In a recent news article, Nova Scotia trapper Gary Fisher attempts to explain how today’s trappers operate in the province, and describe efforts taken to avoid catching pets in traps.

“We’re really trying not to catch people’s pets. That’s the message I want to convey,” Mr. Fisher says after demonstrating three types of raccoon sets and an underwater set for trapping beavers.

Fisher is one of many trappers who are pushing for others to be more responsible about where and how they set their traps, while at the same time urging pet owners to obey the law and keep their pets from running free in wildlife habitat.

Unfortunately, not everybody listens.

The Trapping Awareness Project started in 2005 amid concerns over landowners’ rights and pets getting caught in traps. There were nine incidents a couple of seasons ago, Mr. Morse says, but in each case, the trapper or pet owner wasn’t following the rules.

Partially due to concerns about capturing pets, many in the province are trying to pass a law requiring trappers to obtain permission before setting traps on private property, which currently isn’t required unless the property is posted.

They also want to require written permission to set traps within 1 kilometer of a dwelling, which seems to be an unreasonable request because of the high density of dwellings in many areas where furbearer population control (through trapping) is neccessary.

“In essence, if you take a map and you start to draw one-kilometre circles around properties, you discover you would need to have, in some cases, hundreds and even thousands of written permission statements in order to curb nuisance wildlife, and that is just obviously not practical,” Mr. Morse says.

“If you put too many obstacles in place, you’re going to put an end to this practice.”

And ending the practice of trapping is certainly the goal of some.  For others, they simply want to make sure that their pets aren’t caught in traps.

Ultimately, that requires the responsible actions of trappers and pet owners alike.

Be sure to read the story and check out the comments section.  Nova Scotians have as many different opinions about trapping as you could imagine!

Trapping Near Trails: Avoid the Controversy

The issue of trapping on public trails has been a hot topic in the news lately.  It seems like every few weeks a story comes out about a hiker’s dog being killed in a trap, refuelling debate about how trappers should operate.

New York State recently adopted emergency trapping regulations that made it illegal to set traps that could kill dogs near public trails in the state.  The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners also recently enacted regulations prohibiting trapping within 1,000 feet of designated hiking trails, and prohibiting trapping near trails in Alaska’s Chugach State Park is currently being discussed.

Such publicity isn’t a good thing for trappers, and the resulting legislation isn’t necessarily a good thing either.  Regulations like the ones discussed above arise directly as a result of incidental pets being captured in traps, and can sometimes limit responsible trappers from operating in order to control the problems caused by a few. 

The solution is for us as trappers to educate each other and make sure that the only sets we make near public trails are certain to be dogproof.  It’s true that most areas have leash laws and trappers may be operating in a legal manner when a pet is allowed to roam and is killed in a trap.  But sometimes being legally ‘in the right’ just isn’t enough, and can give a bad reputation to trappers everywhere.  Most of these new regulations are a direct result of political action taken by pet owners who have had a bad experience with traps.

The simple fact is that using common sense and not setting potential pet-catching sets near hiking trails is the best way to prevent damaging the reputation of the rest of the trapping community, and should keep trapping regulations from becoming tougher near public trails.