Charlie
Dobbins Scholarship Winner
Fur Trapping – An American Heritage
Article from Sep
- Oct 2007 Buckeye Trapper
by Kaitlyn
Jackson
Fur trapping is part of our American heritage. Trappers were
found in all parts of the new frontier and are often referred
to in textbooks as important individuals who were liaisons between
the pioneers and the Native Americans. The furs which were taken
for thousands of years through trapping provided warmth in the
form of clothing, blankets, and shelter. Scott Hartman of the
National Trapping Association states that “for North America’s
more than one-half million trappers, the purpose of trapping varies
– from assisting wildlife biologists in furbearer studies,
to population and disease control, protection against soil erosion,
and for food, clothing, and income. And yet, thanks to good management
practices, furbearers are more numerous in North America today
than 100 years ago. The public needs to know that there is no
trapping of endangered species and that we continue to research
and encourage the use of the most effective and humane trapping
techniques.”
Where humans interact with wildlife habitat in countless ways,
management of certain animal populations will always be required.
Often uniformed people think that trapping always dispatches an
animal. This is not always the case. Yes, there are traps to permanently
remove an animal from the premises. Dispatching an animal or animals
from an area regardless of the area’s size not only removes
the animals, but it serves several other purposes. Frequently,
trapping reduces problems when they become too numerous and/or
cause trouble for humans or their own populations. This also helps
to reduce threats to human or pet health and safety by reducing
exposure to disease. Wildlife can also serve as sources for disease
(like rabies and tularemia), which are potentially dangerous to
humans. Mange, rabies, parasites, and distemper are often common
among overpopulations. Die-offs due to these diseases are common.
It may take weeks for a disease to consume an animal, but these
problems can be controlled through trapping to reduce and even
stop the spread of disease outbreaks.
Unfortunately, as our human population continues to grow and encroach
on farmlands which now have hundreds of houses sitting on them,
wildlife is forced to move to different areas or try to stay where
they already know, forcing them to adapt to the new environment,
which might be in homes or outbuildings, garbage cans, etc. When
this occurs, the human population tends to overreact and insist
that the wildlife be forever removed from their surroundings regardless
of the price both financially or physically, for fear that they
will damage property or hurt their children or pets. Little do
they realize that the wildlife is just trying to survive.
Sometimes wildlife populations need to be controlled and corrected
to defend human activities: bears destroy beehives; coyotes kill
livestock and pets; wolves prey greatly on young moose, deer,
and caribou, which local people depend upon for food and income;
raccoons invade cornfields; deer and elk ruin winter-stored hay;
fox, mink, and weasels love domestic poultry; and beavers can
flood farmland and roadways. As a victim of poultry decimation,
I understand the need for population control after watching late
night strolls by three very rotund raccoons on my front porch.
Overall, I feel that the best reason to trap is to benefit wildlife
itself. Trapping is used to protect endangered species and encourage
their growth and repopulation back into the environment. Rare
or endangered species are captured and unharmed in foothold traps
or box traps. Then the animals are moved and released a different
area, where there are few of that species, in hopes of reestablishing
wildlife populations. Ohio recently completed its reintroduction
of the river otter into all 88 counties. There has been such great
success in many counties that there is now an otter season where
three otters per person can be taken.
Even though there are more furbearers in North America today than
100 years ago, trapping is also used to protect the health and
management of established or newly established species. These
species to be protected could be plant or animal. In various areas
of the United States, pink lady slippers, pitcher plants, whooping
cranes, and black-footed ferrets have all had animals removed
or relocated after capture in order to reestablish their species
in a region. These may be carried out by federal, state or local
wildlife managers/biologists, animal control representatives,
or private trappers.
Trapping done well allows for animal populations to grow over
the course of a year because they are a renewable resource. Obliteration
of any species would alter the balance of nature and cause either
overpopulation or death of other animal populations. The Wildlife
Society states that resource management activities must “maintain
essential ecological processes, preserve genetic diversity, and
ensure the existence of species and ecosystems.” Therefore,
trapping in North America must be versatile, safe, effective,
and ecologically sound methods of harvesting and managing furbearers.
Trappers understand that their methods occasionally capture unintended
animals such as dogs and cats, but they do their best to be mindful
to prevent this from happening through seminars, conventions,
and become members of trapping associations which establish regulatory
and educational programs to reduce the number of both human and
animal injuries. New, effective alternative methods of trapping
which have the potential to reduce injury but maintain efficiency
are being developed. Fur takers also urge the use of devices which
dispatch quickly or cause the least amount of stress and injury
to a captured animal.
As a trapper, we pace the floor until November 10th. We get a
rush as we become one with the Earth and its creatures. Those
who do not approve often do not understand the benefits of trapping.
They read ill-informed brochures about the brutality of trapping,
stating that some animals, especially mothers desperate to get
back their young, fight vigorously as they attempt to chew or
twist off their trapped limbs. This is untrue since young are
born in the spring and are dispersed well before trapping season
begins. Others state that if trapped animals do not die from infection
or gangrene, they will probably be killed by predators or hunters.
Trapped animals will not get an infection or gangrene within 24
hours of capture, and Ohio trappers are required to check their
traps within 24 hours.
Many times trappers are several generations in the making. Skills
are taught and traps are passed on from one generation to the
next and are enjoyed together thereby keeping traditions alive.
Many times the income produced from the sale of the pelts is icing
on the cake. Often, the income is used to purchase more traps,
for others it could be the difference between financial disaster
and survival. Most trappers realize that they are helping keep
the populations in check and reducing possible disease outbreaks.
The general population does not realize or understand that in
many parts of the United States, such as Illinois, that nearly
the entire animal is used. Trappers sell the fur, and the rest
is either eaten or rendered into products that we use everyday.
The animals are used to make soap, livestock, feed, paint, tires,
textiles, and construction materials.
Trapping benefits all from the smallest flower to the wetlands
which filter water and promote flora and fauna diversity. We all
must be aware that nature alone cannot provide the upkeep and
balance needed when overpopulations run amok.
|
