Here's a great interview with Louis Porter, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. He brings up some excellent points about trapping, wildlife management, and the things animal rights advocates don't consider in the trapping debate. Great job, commish! I couldn't have said it better myself! Source: Vermont Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife, Louis … [Read more...]
Trappers Catch and Release Too!
Most folks don't realize that the foothold trap is a safe and humane method of capturing furbearers, and that we trappers have the ability to release our catch alive and well as the situation permits. For instance, Maine trappers are required to release Canada lynx that are often caught in their fox and coyote sets, and routinely do so with oversight from biologists. There are … [Read more...]
Trappers Misunderstood
James Foster of New Brunswick, Canada's Times & Transcript newspaper wrote an excellent article on trapping after taking the Province's sponsored trapping course for the first time himself. Like James said, taking a trapping course can be a real eye opener to folks who otherwise aren't familiar with the sport. The course was more than informative - it was downright … [Read more...]
Fur Is Green
The Fur Council of Canada has put together a great educational web site designed to promote fur as a natural, renewable resource. At www.furisgreen.com, you can learn why buying and promoting fur is good for the environment. Trapping and fur use helps state and federal wildlife agencies manage populations of furbearers to provide an optimum balance with other species in … [Read more...]
Foothold Traps are Humane, Columnist Demonstrates
The best way to combat animal rights arguments is with the facts. Massachusetts outdoor columnist Marc Folco did just that when he demonstrated, on video, what it's like to get your hand caught in the average foothold animal trap. Folco showed the public what most trappers already know: these traps are humane! The same traps demonstrated in the video below were banned in … [Read more...]
Conflict Over Bear Snaring in Nova Scotia?
According to a recent news article, a Nova Scotia man is pushing to outlaw bear snaring in the province, citing it as 'barbaric'. What the retired school teacher and bird hunter has failed to recognize, however, is that this snaring is the same exact method used by biologists across Canada and the U.S. to capture bears for research purposes. Here's what the local Trappers … [Read more...]
Sharing the Trail: How Pet Owners and Trappers Can Avoid Conflicts in the Field
With trapping season underway in many states, it's important that trappers and pet owners both work hard to avoid having dogs caught in traps. Catching dogs is a hot button issue in many places, particularly on public land that supports multiple use. In most cases, dogs are safely and easily released from traps, but some situations can be fatal, and these need to be … [Read more...]
Trapping Is Humane
Amongst the mayhem of recent lawsuits by environmental groups to ban certain types of trapping in Maine to 'protect' Canada lynx, much discussion has ensued on message boards, blogs and various other websites. Many questions have risen about trapping, as a larger base of the uninformed public has started hearing more about this issue and wants more background. In one of those … [Read more...]