Guest Column
New Organization Educates Pet Owners About Traps
By K. Stachowski, 6-30-07
Editor’s note: The author, K. Stachowski, is an organizing member of Footloose Montana, a new organization in the state. The following is a report from the organization’s first workshop.
Long summer evenings in Missoula, Montana offer no dearth of activities for public participation, and weekends only increase the abundant options. Deciding which event to forego is the usual summer dilemma. Full schedules notwithstanding, some 60 people gathered Friday evening to learn about animal trapping on public land and—more specifically—how to free their companion dogs should they tangle with a trap. The free, public service workshop was offered by Footloose Montana, an organization newly-formed in response to increasing conflicts between people, their dogs, and traps set on public land.
Dave Pauli, director of the Humane Society’s Northern Rockies regional office in Billings and a trapping expert (meet Pauli at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/katrina/rescuers2.html), offered information on the kinds of traps Montanans can expect to encounter on their public lands—snares (a wire noose that tightens as the animal struggles), foothold or leghold traps, and Conibears (body crushing and suffocating devices). Workshop attendees learned that tens of thousands of traps are strewn across the public landscape year-round, as predator and “nuisance” animal trapping occurs anywhere and at anytime without regulation, in addition to the loosely-regulated “furbearer” season during winter months. He noted, too, that tampering with legally-set traps is illegal.
Missoula veterinarian Dr. Patti Prato offered general dog first aid with the help of her good-natured assistant, Bear, a golden retriever. Carry a cloth muzzle in your dog’s first aid kit, she advised. Even the most gentle companion will bite out of fear and stress when injured.
The most enlightening portion of the evening was the hands-on trap release practice. Participants first watched as Pauli, a large man with strong arms, struggled with the empty but recalcitrant traps, prompting one member of the audience to observe, “There’s no way that I, a 100-pound woman, am going to be able to open one of these things.”
Pauli’s advice on snares: Get in front of your dog to keep him from struggling away from the noose, the very action that tightens the deadly wire. Sometimes, he said, the locking cam can be backed off enough to open the dog’s airway—that is, if the animal hasn’t twisted the snare in his struggles, and if his fur isn’t caught in the locking device. Carry heavy-duty wire cutters in your backpack, he advised.
Leghold traps are more straightforward—step down on the springs at either side of the jaws. Later on, however, when attendees had the opportunity to try the maneuvers for themselves, most women found that they didn’t have enough weight to compress the springs, and many men were unable to open the larger traps, as well. One was overheard saying, “…and I weigh 230 pounds!” as he stood atop the springs.
The lethal Conibear presented the greatest challenge for expert and novice alike, requiring the compression of two sets of springs under enormous pressure. Leg strength can’t be used in this instance; one needs the know-how along with a length of rope, the dog’s leash, or a specialty tool to compress first one spring and engage the safety catch, then the other. Time is critical where these traps are concerned; they can kill within seconds, certainly within minutes, yet minutes ticked by as workshop attendees struggled with tangled leashes and stubborn springs—and the sobering realization that their own trapped, struggling dog would make the endeavor that much more difficult.
Participants lingered on after 9:00 p.m., fumbling with traps, expressing frustration and anxiety, offering gratitude for the opportunity to learn more about the concealed weapons littering Montana’s taxpayer-funded public lands.
Brown “Footloose Montana” T-shirts are proliferating and will spread across the state as the group’s education campaign continues. Check the Footloose Montana website for information on future workshops, to report trapping incidents, and to learn more about trapping in Montana and how citizens can get involved in this public lands issue.
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Trappers contribute to wildlife management and habitat through the purchase of their mandatory Conservation License (MT) and through their purchase of the General Trapping License. These funds are used by FWP and other wildlife agencies to acquire critical wildlife habitat and fund furbearer track surveys and radio tracking. Trappers also promote furbearer management by providing their harvest numbers to FWP so mangement decisions and population trends can be made. Additionally, most trappers are involved in conservation and sporting groups. I am a trapper, and I am a member of the local Montana Wildlife Federation chapter (works on habitat acquisition and conservation of wildlife), Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Obviously I, as a trapper, contribute greatly to wildlife management and conservation through these organizations.
Most legal and responsible trapping does not cause undue suffering or pain to the target animal. The conibear traps I use for pine marten kill in minutes. A beaver in a drowning set will die in minutes. In most forms of trapping, there is minimal suffering of the animal. Also, the trapper’s objective is to insure a quick, clean kill because this keeps the pelt undamaged and the trap set reusable.
Trapping is ARGUABLY a form of hunting. Hunting is defined in Hunter Education courses as “the pursuit or search for game”. The trapper is most definitely “pursuing game” with his traps. Therefore, it makes no sense when hunters claim they are opposed to trapping. Trapping, fishing, and hunting are one and the same. Is trying to bring in a fox to a set with lure any different than trying to entice a whitetail buck to you by rattling? The only difference is the means of kill.
Trappers are no different than loggers because these activities utilize public RENEWABLE resources to make a profit. How is selling an animal pelt any different than cutting some trees for lumber? Harvest of these resources is and should be permitted as long as the harvest is sustainable.
A 24 hour trap check would be unfair to many trappers. As a marten trapper I run 20+ mile long ski lines a fair distance from home. It would be impossible for me and other longliners to check traps every day. The marten I catch die almost instantly in conibears, and are well-preserved and undamaged when I retrieve them. There is no reason for a 24 hour trap check for many forms of trapping. Given that foothold trappers, large body-gripping trappers, and snarers probably should check their sets every other day because of the exposure and nature of their traps.