The boy and I had a good time checking our beaver traps this morning, and picked up a couple of flattails. Our cold climate and overabundant beaver population has allowed for a pretty late beaver trapping season in northern Maine, all the way till the end of April.
Usually I’m busy with other things this time of year, but it’s been so snowy and wet, it seems more appropriate to be trapping! Of course the beaver pelts aren’t worth much, but we’ll work them up and either sell the fur for a few bucks or send it off to get tanned. The carcasses will be used for bait on the marten trapline next season, and the castors will be used to make lure.
I only set a couple of traps near home, but there are a few very skilled trappers around here who take full advantage of this late beaver season. They work super hard and catch hundreds of beavers in just a couple of weeks. They are able to harvest an excess renewable resource and help prevent road flooding problems that will be caused by this overabundance of beavers throughout the summer. It’s almost time for the trapping world to take the big summer break, but things aren’t over quite yet up here, and we’ll try to catch a little more fur before it ends. If you can find time for it, it’s always fun.
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