One lynx has been killed and at least six others captured in traps during the 2011-12 trapping season even as Maine wildlife officials await federal action on a permit intended to shield the state from liability when the protected wildcats are caught in the future.
While six of the lynx were released alive after being caught in foothold traps, one of the cats was killed in a so-called Conibear, or body-gripper trap, that had apparently been set for a different species.
Wally Jakubas, mammal group leader with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the investigation into the killed lynx is continuing but that the trapper is facing charges of failing to follow proper procedures when setting traps in lynx territory. Jakubas declined to release additional information on the case.
Jakubas said the other six lynx were released with little to no signs of harm from the foothold traps, which are typically padded.
“The trappers all cooperated on those [cases],” Jakubas said.
With an estimated 600-1,200 lynx in the state, Maine has the only sizable population of the reclusive cat in the eastern U.S. Lynx resemble bobcats but have large padded feet that allow them to run on top of snow while pursuing snowshoe hare or other prey.
As a federally designated “threatened” species, Canada lynx are protected from harm or harassment — including trapping — under the Endangered Species Act. But each year in Maine, a number of lynx turn up in traps set by sportsmen targeting other animals such as pine marten or fishers.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the Maine DIF&W’s application for an “incidental take” permit that would allow the state to continue running a trapping season throughout much of northern, western and eastern Maine. If granted, the permit would effectively protect the state and trappers from legal claims under the Endangered Species Act if lynx are inadvertently caught in legally set traps intended for other species.
The federal agency is accepting public comments through Feb. 7 on Maine’s more than 300-page application for an incidental take permit. In order to receive the permit, DIF&W must prove that they are taking steps to conserve lynx and to minimize impacts from trapping on the cats.
Maine has already enacted substantial changes to its trapping regulations in recent years in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of lynx captures. Those changes were prompted, in large part, by two federal court cases filed by animal welfare organizations accusing DIF&W of failing to do enough to protect lynx from harm due to trapping.
Jakubas said, at least so far, the number of comments received from trappers supporting the state’s application has exceeded those submitted by critics. He said the state would like to have a permit in hand before the 2012-13 season begins in the fall but acknowledged that may not happen due to the complexity of the issue.
“There are a lot changes that the [U.S.] Fish and Wildlife Service has asked for,” he said.
Daryl DeJoy with the Wildlife Alliance of Maine, which is one of the organizations that unsuccessfully sued the state, agreed with Jakubas on that point.
“As the [application] stands now, I believe there is no way they will get” a permit, DeJoy said. “If they make some pretty substantial changes, then sure. And that is what we are asking.”
DeJoy also repeated assertions that he and others believe other trappings go unreported and, therefore, the data used to support the state’s application is flawed.
“I think it is very likely that we do not hear about the lynx caught in traps that are injured,” DeJoy said.
But Jakubas said all trappers should be reporting lynx. The department also anticipates higher figures than the seven lynx caught so far this season, which is all but finished except for beaver trapping.
DIF&W’s permit application estimates that, on average, 13 lynx would be caught each year during the 15-year period covered by an incidental take permit, with the vast majority of those lynx released alive with little or no injury.
DeJoy and others within the animal welfare community question the department’s assertions that lynx are usually released unharmed and have said that the cats should be examined by a veterinarian and fitted with radio tracking collars to monitor them post-release.
For information on lynx and the state’s application to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit www.fws.gov/mainefieldoffice/Canada_lynx.html.
Trapping and baiting are the trailer trash way of hunting. No sport to it!
Obviously, you have never set a trap. You have know what you’re doing, or all you’ll get is exercise in return for money and time spent.
How is that anymore a sport than leaving the lid off your trash can? Sorry but tracking is sport; checking a trap (hopefully regularly) is just like watching paint dry and inhumane to the animal struggling in such. To each their own.
The Canada lynx is an Illegal Alien !
as well as an Invasive Species.
You can eradicate them at will in Maine for all I care and by Any means available.
Canada is Infested with them, and they Laugh in our direction over our protection of this NOT endangered species.
Same goes for Coyotes.
Agree with you 100% on this one, and just for the record I typically support conservation movements, but this one is ridiculous. They are categorized in the “Least Concern” grouping on the endangered species list along with domesticated cows and goldfish. Trap away, maybe we can get rid of a few more.
I cannot believe the indifference you people have to the suffering of an animal! We are over-run with people, so do we start eradicating ourselves?
Only a fool would compare an animal to a human the way you did.
I’d rather be a fool than a sadist.
“I’d rather be a fool than a sadist.”
Don’t celebrate your foolishness – it’s a form of indecent exposure.
“When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.” – Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan Pt. II Ch. 30, 1651
Bangorburger, you should check your facts before you speak. Canada Lynx are listed as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. If you’re talking about the state, well they are listed as a” species of special concern”, and that only because the state knows the protections they (will) have to offer if they list it that way.
You may want to research the history of how and why the Canadian Lynx was added to the list. It would do you some good to know what you’re talking about before you come on here and spew garbage replies to people that actually know what they are talking about. We can all use Google to pull up a list of animals. The animal was added because the US government approved the sale of over 300 plots of public land to be used in foresting, and people speculated the US population of the lynx would dwindle (not the worldwide population). After activist brought the decision NOT to put the animal on the list to court, they finally won in a reluctant decision by one judge who was publicly pressured by 5 conservation groups to add the animal to the list. At no time around the time of this decision was the overall population of the lynx in danger, as it is not now.
Bangorburger, it doesn’t change the fact that the garbage that was spewed was from you about lynx being classified as “Least Concern” (there is no classification by that name, by the way). This is what you guys do. When you are called on something you change the subject immediately and spew more half truths. Its hard to defend facts and so you just continue to spew thinking people won’t call you on it. I do and many others are these days. We will continue to until wildlife is truly protected. Worldwide populations are not relevant. Local populations are, and I ‘ll bet if you polled all the people of Maine they would say they would rather have lynx than trappers if they had to choose one or the other.
Just so you know, you are also an illegal alien (unless you happen to be 100% Native American, which I doubt, since they have mostly been driven out of Maine).
Would you like to slowly suffocate to death in a conibear?
The lynx is not an invasive species. Its historical range includes much of Maine. Coyotes have taken advantage of favorable conditions created by humans to greatly expand their range. If this makes them an invasive species, I assume you consider deer to be an invasive species in northern Maine considering they were not found here before Europeans began to clear the land for agriculture.
Your attitude is the kind that gives hunting a bad name.
MyThoughts, I would suggest that you get with a trapper and tag along when they are setting traps. This season I ended up having 4 experienced hunters tag along with me(on different trips) and they were shocked be the work and knowledge that is needed.
To the easiness of it I will give you any example of the difficulty of trapping. I made a set in any area that had good coyote sign just before deer season. I dug my bait hole, then set the trap with a slight offset to the hole. The trap was bedded good and the set up looked perfect. The next morning I go and check the set. A coyote had walked to the set, stepped on the trap, stole the bait, and left. The trap never fired. The coyote missed the traps pan by about a 1/4 inch. I had offset the trap just a little too much and the coyote got a free meal. A day or so later deer season started and the coyote never returned. Trapping is more difficult than hunting.
You know what I’d like, Sleepycreek? I’d like trappers to take a reporter alongand document just exactly what it is trappers do. Skill is skill, but the skills needed to cause an animal to suffer in a trap just so some people can practice what they consider tradition are not necessary skills. Believing they are shows a certain sociopathic detachment from the rest of our society. If a reporter could show a trapper killing a coyote or fox or racoon in a trap I agree with you that it would be quite enlightening to the general public.
Trapping has been a tradition for alot of families in North America ever since the early 1600s.The traps we use today are not like the ones used long ago.They actually used to have teeth and I can tell you not even I would use those type if I could,they were banned a long time ago.You know I probably dont like some things you do but I could care less what you do in your little world so just leave mine alone.
Sorry Machias90, but “my little world” happens to be the same places you trap. I have been a Registered Maine Guide (rec, whitewater, sea kayak) starting in 1989 for some of those licenses and still enjoy the North Woods and Downeast of Maine throughout the summer. Those animals you’re trapping, if they are yours to trap, are mine as well, and I can tell you that when the majority of people know the truth about all this they will tell you to stop doing what you are doing to their animals. We do not live in a libertarian society, thank god. If we did, we would degrade this planet even faster than we already are. Someone’s got to make sure that this stuff stops, and for now, it will be WAM working hard to make that happen.
Daryldj, I do believe there has been a number of times that a reporter has tagged along with a trapper. I don’t know how enlightening it would be to show me shooting a coyote in the head with a .22 but if I knew a reporter I would gladly take them. I will say I am not going to take someone I don’t know because I wouldn’t know if they were being objective or not.
Please. If you cared about animals suffering, you would support management of species by man, not the wonderful sounding “natural balance” propaganda groups such as yours now push.
Fluctuations in populations occur by the rise of prey animals, followed by predators, and decline by starvation and disease as the prey population is diminished. That is true suffering. Despite your belief that somehow man is not meant to be a part of nature (dropped here by aliens maybe?), we are the only species capable of limiting the mass suffering caused by boom or bust population trends.
All people are not meant for every job, trapping is no exception. Painting trappers as sociopathic
while you know facts is very decietful to say the lease, but what the heck, your kind has been fleecing the public for money quite well by misrepresentation for years now, why change what works.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. Thank you for clarifying your position Kurt.
Don’t knock it until you try it, I’ve never trapped but I would try it before I pass judgement on it. How is it any more inhumane than hunting, the animals die quickly and often times if live trapped are released with no ill effect.
What pleasure to you derive from trapping an animal? Don’t you know that the animal suffers terribly? Either kill your prey immediately in a humane, skilled manner or stay home.
Maybe you need to spend some time in a leg-hold trap, Gary, in order to experience the unnecessary pain.
Trappers opened the west and did a lot of map making while getting us the fir we wanted and needed. I’m not a trapper, but in this case I’m with Gary52, you should go with a trapper and see what he/she has to contend with and then make a statement.
I am not questioning the history of trapping, but in my opinion modern trapping is not my preferred method of hunting or sport and not what I consider real hunting. Anyone can drop a lobster trap or a net and I don’t consider that real fishing either. In other words I don’t need to follow a trapper to make a statement. As a matter a fact trapping is the equivalent to drugging a women to pick her up rather than being a smooth operator!
When you have obviously no idea what you’re talking about , remember” SILENCE IS GOLDEN”
Thank you for your advice, but I do know what I am talking about; trapping and baiting are lazy man hunting! Remember “A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED!”
How is it lazy, I’m thinking most trappers put in more time and effort for their catch than most of us deer hunters. Many hunters sit in tree stands for long periods of time, is that lazy? I don’t think so, personally i think it takes a lot of endurance, it takes a lot of time to find a location and it takes a lot of self discipline to sit in a stand from the pre-dawn hours to the end of the day. What i think is the truly lazy way of hunting of which there is nothing wrong about it as I do it from time to time is heater hunting for birds. With trapping you don’t have that luxury, you spend a lot of time finding the right spot, you spend time bringing your gear, setting it up, and then checking it. It may not be your cup of tea, but who are you to say there is no sport in it because you think it’s the “lazy way”. You may consider it un-sporting, but it certainly is not lazy.
You talking from experience about drugging a woman?
HAHAHA! I would like to see you fish a lobster out of the ocean.
Film at 11!
What about the meat you eat? How hard was that to cultivate? I am a vegetarian, so when I oppose cruelty to animals, whether in captivity or free, I am not being a hypocrite.
The article is about trapping not meat eating. Thank you, however, for enlightening us on your diet. Now, unless you are a 24/7 nudist those clothes you are wearing were more than likely made using child labor or at the very least extremely cheap overworked laborers struggling to survive. So in other words you are a hypocrite since your clothing is the result of cruelty to animals: humans. Make sure your house is in order before criticizing mine.
How many ron paul bumper stickers do you have on your car?
Yes, if people knew how tortured farm animals are they might think again about eating them. Not only that, a meatless diet is actually more healthy and less stressful to the body.
Ok, so lets sum this up, sitting in a tree stand, over a scent station, with a scope, blowing a deer call, is totally sporting to you? Trapping is convingcing a animal to place its foot in a spot roughly 2inch by 2inch in say, 500 acres of woods. So tell me again, about “sportmans style” of hunting. In my many years of trapping, 95% of animals I harvested were either sound asleep or caught in a kill trap, so instant dispatch was achieved. How many deer are gut shot every year, and never found as they slowly die? Dont believe the propaganda of Animal Rights nuts. These are the same people who rigged the Phippsburg Sportsman Club to explode, luckily someone stopped it before the Boyscouts who were to use the building that day got there>(this was roughly 7 years ago, made the news etc etc) Trapping is needed to balance nature out since we humans have taking much of the land from animals. When trapper numbers dropped years ago, reported rabies cases have increased every year. Also, for the enlightended ones who will say, Oh he is white trash blah blah, I am actually a Marine Corps Veteran, College Grad(3.9 GPA) A father who is not a deadbeat( I collect child support) I own and operate my own business that I started and employ 5 people. More Lynx are killed each year on the roads and by coyotes than anything else. Also, how do you think they capture animals for tagging and research purposes?
If your 3.9 average had included reading comprehension you would have noticed “baiting” in my post at the top of the page, therefore your first statement is false. Try again to put different words in my mouth.
“I am actually a Marine Corps Veteran, College Grad(3.9 GPA) A father who
is not a deadbeat( I collect child support) I own and operate my own
business that I started and employ 5 people.”
I don’t know if you are or not, but those credentials certainly do not exempt you from being white trash.
People that are for animal rights are not nuts.
The “sporting” community thinks that if they keep calling people who are in favor of treating animals with respect and not causing unnecessary pain and suffering “animal rights nuts” that the general public will fall for it. Fortunately, the public is slowly waking up, and I hope this article wakes up a few more.
MaeBerry, “animal right nuts” is usually describing the people that will commit crimes to push there agenda. The people that destroy trapping equipment, fire bombing stores that sell fur coats, cutting the brakes on medical researcher vehicle, fire bombing neighborhoods of medical researchers, etc. are nuts. Someone who loves their cat Fluffy can be a nut but not for loving their cat.
Thanks. When used in regard to those people I understand that, but some on here use the term extremely loosely.
Are these animals sleeping or unconscious? They probably worked themselves into a state of exhaustion from trying to free themselves. How many chewed limbs have you seen? You hunters and trappers always try to sugar coat these things. Instant dispatch? Who are you kidding?
Well sir, trapping is not hunting, it’s trapping. If a lobsterman could make a living with a chicken neck on a string, catching lobster one at a time, fair and square as you profess, he probably would. I set 50-60 traps a day to catch as much fur in a short season as possible. Muskrats are currently $6-$8 apiece, that makes trapping a worthwhile venture to some people. The majority of trappers are no threat to Lynx, water trappers, and trappers in Southern or Downeast maine are out of Lynx habitat, and the new rules regarding pole sets for fisher & Marten are specifically designed to eliminatre lynx bycatch.
You may not like trapping, that’s fine, don’t trap. You probably don’t like abortion either, but that doesn’t make it any less legal.
The new regulations for pole sets/conibears with lynx don’t mean squat. They are just MDIFW committing some tiny change to the regulations and holding their breath that the truth doesn’t come out. Ask USFWS to show you their videos of a captive lynx climbing a 3 inch pole set almost vertically. When they do, and you realize that MDIFW has already said that it’s impossible, you will be a better informed man. If the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth were on display for all to see, this subject would be where a should be, a thing of the past. And this is not a libertarian society, it is a democratic one, and we hope that soon society as a whole will realize just what the truth about trapping really is.
Actually, we are a republic, not mob rule. The truth is you want to control what others do. Live and let live. Liberals want to have their freedoms to do what they like, and take away freedoms from others they despise.
How about just freedom? Freedom to have an abortion. Freedom to trap. Freedom to have a marriage between two individuals of the same sex. Freedom to hunt. Freedom. You are either for it, or against it. Most people are on both sides of this issue because they want the freedom for their pet issue, but want to deny freedom to others when it is something they disdain.
When you advocate for suffering in your “right” it is societies place to regulate that. Society is changing, and while I agree that our country was partially built on trapping, it was also partially built by slavery. I do not believe we have to romanticize either nor do I believe either should be anything else but history. What the plantation owners fought for, their right to own slaves, was not right. They viewed blacks as “lesser” just like trappers view wildlife. It is a narrow view of the world and of other living things.
We don’t need fur in the year 2012.
But we need to manage wildlife, hunting and trapping is the most effective way and it benefits the economy also.
Very well said..
Does “managing” include extirpation ? That seems to be the sentiment of quite a few here.
If you manage you can keep extirpation of species from happening. Managing is a broad term, by not allowing lynx trapping and setting up regulations to minimize incidental catches is managing.
I wear layers of breathable clothing.
There are a lot of things we could do for money that we don’t and shouldn’t. Trapping does nothing. Wildlife did just fine before we came along and screwed things up so we could say “there’s too much wildlife, we could sell licenses to people who like blood sports” and present it as “wildlife management”. If there is a specific animal problem that can’t be solved in areas where they will adversely affect humans then there are ADC agents for that very occasional occurrence. Most of the time a little education is enough to solve the problem.
I like fur
How much time do you spend in extreme cold conditions, I can tell you right now I may wear a wool cap but the original bombers were and are the best thing out there.
See my post above.
I’ve had pretty good luck just walking up to fir and chopping them down. No traps needed.
Trapping is not hunting nor is it a sport.It is an income,throughout history humans have used this method for income,controlling a species population and food as well.The later less now.
openminedmainer, if you trap you know it is not an income. We subpoenad the trappers and the state during the court case to prove just that. No trapper could testify under oath that he did, and the President of the Maine Trappers Association would not give us an exact number, only, and I quote, “less than 10% of my income”. Saying you make money from trapping is like saying you make money on instant lottery tickets. You just include what you win, not what you spent, gas driving to the store, etc. etc.
Well Daryl, you tout yourself as a Registered Maine Guide, how much of your income do you derive from that? All the Guides I know rely on other jobs for their maine source of income, so perhaps we should eliminate the Registered maine guide status. It would save out of state hunters a great deal of money.
hopperdredgbill, just like trappers, next to nothing. I do it because I enjoy it. My enjoyment does not cause suffering for other living things just so I can enjoy myself, and if it did I wouldn’t do it. It really is that simple. Essentially, because I own a solar company, it has become busy enough for me to mostly enjoy my time in the woods instead of having to make money from it. That, too, is simple enough for most to understand. The world is changing. Deal with it. And as for out of state hunters, I, and many other people, would be glad to do without them. Now, if they wanted to take pictures of all our beautiful, living wildlife I would feel different and I make no apologies for that.
How did I know he had plenty of money?
I don’t know about plenty of money, but what I have I earned the hard way. I still haul 180 lb batteries and climb ladders with 50 lb solar panels. Until 14 years ago I lived in the woods in Penobscot without running water and with an outhouse.Do you resent people who work hard and earn a living? Your ongoing personal attacks only show your true nature. I am having fun answering them, though :-)
same here its a blast
There are definitely people out there that do make money trapping, but like most things for the average person it’s more of a hobby.
I did not say they made a lot,any self employed individual needs to account for expenses.If you make a dime it is income.Supplemental income at that.
There are hundreds of ambushing techniques used by people who prey on harmless defenseless animals. None of which are a definition of hunting- “hunters” they are not.
sounds like your one of the masstrash that has no idea of what trapping is all about !!
for the most part trappers are an honest group because they dont want to loose trapping privledges of course there is always 1 or 2 dishonest even in the animal rights groups!. I think more harm would be done to a lynx by bringing into captivity to check it out than by releasing it. I also believe very strongly that if Dejoy wants tracking collars put on them then their organization should pay for them and not the taxpayers of the state or the trappers…..and then I will await the oppurtunity to sue them when a lynx incidentally hangs itself on a limb or snag because it got caught on one!!!! I am not a trapper of martin or fisher.
Our responsibility is to protect lynx from trappers. The trappers are who should pay for the radio collaring. Do you know that the state only radio collared a total of six lynx caught by trappers. Three of the six died in less than a month. You might say that doesn’t prove anything, but an injured lynx in a weakened state is not as likely to survive things like predation attempts, scarcity of food, or even swimming across a swollen river. Injuries definitely matter to animals in the wild, where even a minor injury isn’t…..
Perhaps a lynx trying to swim across a swollen river with a 2lb radio collar around it’s neck would have a tough time surviving.
Perhaps, but if it weren’t trapped and possibly injured in the first place it wouldn’t have a collar on it.
No we need to protect society from people like you
Lynx protection is a joke the population goes up and down with the Hare population. Canada loves that we protect them gives them more to shoot and trap as they come across the border.This is just the animal rights nuts using the Lynx to end the best game management tool and thats Trapping !
All forms of hunting should be outlawed…
I disagree, you may not want to participate in the activity, but I enjoy hunting and fishing as well as many people across the world. Many people may find it distasteful but it is no worse than the way the food you get at the store is processed. There are many people if given the opportunity that would enjoy hunting, fishing, and trapping. I know this for a fact as several friends of mine had little to no exposure to hunting or fishing before they had met me. They now hunt and fish, and many people that I’ve met that were against it are now more accepting, they may not be supportive but they are not against it. If you get just the information and the exposure to outdoor recreational activities like these from certain groups you are only getting a piece of the picture. When you get real first hand knowledge and are able to be actively involved you get a very different view on things. That applies to a multitude of things in life, how can you know that you won’t like or have a new view point after you get first hand experience.
I have read all of the comments posted here by trappers and as an elderly retired trapper and a local and international fur buyer, I have a single question to ask you. Why can’t you tell the truth? Trapping takes very little talent or skill and traps are not selective. That’s what this lynx issue is all about. Selective trapping for beaver may still be needed here and there throughout Maine but there is no need for land trapping any more. And you won’t catch a lynx in a beaver trap set beneath the ice. And once again, I tell all of those making comments here who are not trappers, whatever you do, don’t believe a trapper. They lie. Trapping is the most cruel thing I have ever done in my life. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I ever did it
I smell a wolf in sheeps clothing
No Sir. What you are smelling is an “honest man.”
You’ll have to understand, Bill, that when it comes to honesty, that’s a foreign concept to some of these lame-brains.
Into the sauce a little bit tonight, Bill?
I’d say Bill is into the truth. You should have one with him.
Spoken as a true atheist !
takes no skill? I suppose you are right to a certain extent, I remember a certain hardware store owner of Lyfords in Brewer who thought trapping beaver was very easy with a lot of money to be made because he knew a few people that did trap year after year. I remember as a teenager the day he and his partner came upon a beaver flowage we were setting up a very dear and mentor of a friend happened to be there. when the new guy stated that he had not been able to catch a beaver all season (we only had 8 weeks to trap and this was week 6) and then he proceeded to ask how we could catch so many beaver…my mentor friend told him the secret was to use milkbone dog bisquits, not the small ones but the big colored ones they were more attractive and to drill a hole in them so as when mounting them the would not break. I witnessed within the next 2 weeks several sets made like this , i believe he still did not catch any beaver that season but he has sure made for a lot of campfire talk and laughs for many years since. Bill you are absolutely right-takes no skill to set a trap-it only takes the skill to become successful as with anything you wish to become successful with! rest in peace “Stubby” my friend and mentor and i am sure you are still laughing as i am about the trapping lesson given that day on interval brook:)
The Canadian lynx is only in small numbers in the lower 48 of the United States because we are at the far southern end of it’s natural range, It’s not called “Canadian Lynx” for nothing.
Here in Northern Maine we are also on the northern edge of the whitetail deer habitat, hence less deer here than those states south of us. We are also on the southern edge of the moose habitat, thats why you don’t see moose in the southern states. 100 years ago there used to be wolverines, woodland caribou, wolves and a few other animals that no longer live in this area.
Canadian Lynx are not endangered, they just mostly live in Canada.
Sir, everything you say is absolutely correct, but let me continue. If the deer in Maine were as endangered as the lynx are, do you think there would be an open hunting season on deer? The answer, of course, is “No.” It just offends me that trappers lie about their traps being “selective” and worse, that catching an animal with a trap requires the skill of a rocket scientist. In an hour’s time, I can teach an 8-year-old kid how to catch a fox or a coyote – the two most difficult animals to catch. What I can’t teach the most experienced trapper in Maine is how to “not catch” someone’s pet dog or cat. I have caught many of both to include my own coon hunting dogs. Traps are not selective and that is the issue on the effort to protect the few “endangered lynx” we have left here in Maine. I rest my case.
If you’re speaking of incidental takes with foothold dirt sets, it’s my understanding that the modern offset padded coil springs don’t harm the occaisional pet.
The foot trap itself is not usually what causes the damage. It’s when the dog or cat freaks out, as they often do, and they struggle to free themselves. Very few cats that I caught that didn’t have either a broken leg or a broekn shoulder. There are also other variables like the size of the trap, length of time in the trap, freezing or rainy weather, and the nature of the dog or the cat. I’ve caught a few dogs that simply sat down and whimpered and others that freaked out like most of the cats did. PS: Understand that trappers and the fur industry have been under scrutiny for many years and they keep coming up with gadgets like the padded trap in an effort (duping) to make the general public swallow the inherent cruelty of trapping. Time for land trapping to go the way of the cave man.
You have quite obviously never set a trap in your life!
“sportsman” i am calling you out as cowards.
anyone who knows me , knows i would say to your faces too
I don’t know you, what is your name and where are you from?
Is that a threat?
Not at all, I don’t know him..
I’ll stand by your side and do the same , guestnull. If we got everyone who actually felt that way out with us, there would be an end to all but fair chase hunting to put food on the family table.
Bunch of “tree huggers”, go back to where you came from!!
I came from Maine.
What does it matter if a species is endangered or not, trapping is cruel and inhumane and trappers are sadists who get their kicks out of seeing an animal suffer. It’s a power trip for them to ensnare an animal and kill it when they are good and ready. I bet they poke and taunt the animal first because “it’s going to die anyway!”. And as for the body snare (Conibear), how long does that animal suffer before it dies? Sickos and psychopaths! I guess we should be glad they target animals and not people.
You just dont understand how any of these traps work.The conibears 220,330 are made for a very quick death so the animal doesnt suffer.Foothold traps dont hurt ,I have put my own hand in them many times just to show people they are made to hold the animal.No I dont taunt the animal in any way.People actually come to me and ask to trap animals off the land or I get permission.I think the best way to go about this is you take care of yourself and your own land and do what you want on it or be like Mrs. Quimby and buy a few million acres and then you can control the activities you like or dislike.
rockycin should go back to the picture in the Bangor Daily News during our trial a couple of years ago. That lynx, caught in a conibear, hung from its paw for three or four days, eventually dying of suffocation from hanging. It’s a bit like being crucified. Read the necropsy report Machias90. Animals suffer in traps and all the bs you want to try and lay on people here will not change that fact.
That is terrible! What is wrong with people! Honestly, I just don’t understand how that cannot bother someone!
People like you bother me more.
More than what?
Seemingly more than their collective conscience….
It is true, search the BDN archives for the picture, and the heart of the matter here is how a person defines cruelty. Those who trap do not see what they do as inherently cruel. Either they have been taught that by a father who did it or they buy the “wildlife management” line, although my best guess is that they just trap because they like to and simply objectify the animal as “harvest”.
There is nothing wrong with those people, you were raised a certain way and they were raised a certain way. What is acceptable for them is apparently not acceptable for you. I hunt and fish, and am not bothered by dead animals. You would never know that I hunt and fish if you looked at me on the street, but if you met me you might find that I’m a nice person.
It doesn’t happen all the time, the majority of the time the traps work the way they were intended. Domestic animals that get bred en masse suffer their whole lives, but you don’t see it, and it’s much more prolific than trapping yet there isn’t nearly the same outcry.
How did that “trail”work out for you?
If you mean trial, it didn’t work out as well as we might have liked, but we are here today because the judge said the state is liable for take and has to get an ITP. Overall, I’d say it has worked out well, particularly for lynx. We wanted more protections for lynx and if it were not for us (and others) pushing for that, we wouldn’t be here now.
I can somewhat understand the idea of hunting and maybe even trapping if you need it to survive but to risk killing a threatened species for some sort of fun or accomplishment– well, I don’t get it. I know that hunting and trapping gets a person out into Nature but I don’t think you need the killing part to enjoy Nature. By the way–criticizing me or calling me names won’t help me understand.
You are absolute right, ledabeth. However, some of us only learn that in the later years of life. Most hunters and trappers were/are born of a father who hunted and trapped and were culturally conditioned, so to speak, to do the same. Like Father, like son, as the adage goes. I just know that some of what I did was very cruel but didn’t think it was until I became older and able to put things in perspective. Even though I know hunting is done today primarily for the thrill of the chase (that also includes bragging about what they killed with a telescope on a gun that can shoot a mile), I still support hunting providing it has the “fair chase” element that we all know is not hunting with the use of bait. But “land trapping” is inherently cruel and totally unnecessary in this day and age. The only kind of trapping that I could still support is trapping beaver, muskrat and otter beneath the ice. Death is very quick and quite unlike the suffering that goes on in the land traps where trappers are allowed by Maine law to leave struggling animals in their traps for three days in the unorganized territories. I have some coyote snaring photos sent to me by a trapping friend that would make even a trapper cringe. Snaring is absolutely the worst of all outdoor ventures and that is why the State coyote snaring program was abolished.
You seem very knowledgeable, Bill, so I have a question for you. Of what value is a dead marten or fisher, and to whom? Just curious, no agenda.
Winterporter: There is still a small market for fur of all kinds. Check the Maine Trapper’s Association Website for the prices paid for each species at the latest auctions. There are still a few people in the world who wear fur coats besides the Eskimos.
I like your style, Bill. Your posts represent a great deal of knowledge and insight on the subject, and offer the readership a honest and straight forward view on the subject. A tip of the hat to you for sharing your knowledge.
Except that he doesn’t know the laws in Maine very well. I have trapped for a number of years and never have I been able to set a foothold trap in Maine and only check every three days. I have always had (by law and common sense) to check daily.
Foothold traps, used for coyotes, must be checked every day no matter where they are set.
I was in error when I said 3 days. The trap tending law is 72 hours in the unorganized territories and 24 hours in the organized territories for all foot traps set on land. And just for clarification for people who are not trappers, killer traps, so called, do not necessarily kill the animals quickly. I have had numerous marten, fisher and coon caught by the hindquarters that struggled for many hours and were still alive when I checked my traps. Over the years, I have had many friends who hunted with dogs and they hated traps and trappers. But they will not speak out for fear of being criticized like I have been. How would you like to have one of your lovable hunting dogs caught in one of my traps for a day or two? It does not happen often – but it does happen. I don’t remember how many blue herons and ducks I caught one spring when I was muskrat trapping but it was many. So many that IF&W did away with spring trapping a long time ago. Once again, trappers simply don’t tell the whole truth about traps and trapping. PS: The very last fall that I trapped in the Augusta area, I caught 28 house cats – some of them being feral cats that lived around the Hallowell and Augusta granite quarries. I asked the local game warden what I should do and he told me to kill them all rather then to let them go. And yes, I caught numerous dogs to include my hunting friend’s coonhounds – and they were not impressed.
Well houndsmen and bird hunters with a dog know that traps are a possibility during the trapping season. We have to share the woods with everyone. Not everyone who hunts with a dog hates trappers. Modern equipment now has the ability to minimize accidental catches, things change over time and I’m sure trapping has changed some since your day. I would side with the warden over the feral cat issue, I’d try a shelter first but ultimately they get put down anyway the majority of the time. Feral cats are a pest and no one wants them around, you definitely don’t want them under your house when they start spraying all over, and fighting.
so Bill, let me get this straight…..you now support running your game to death before shooting it! If you are the same Bill Randall I know quit making a fool of yourself while drinking!
Bull. “The trap tending law is 72 hours in the unorganized territories and 24 hours in the organized territories for all foot traps set on land.” Talk about not telling the truth. Maine regs. Clear states a foothold on land must be checked every 24 hour time period.
Whether you like it or not, only cowards trap animals.
Really??? How do you know this buckwheat…
Would you say that to someone in person? If you didn’t know a person trapped and met them on the street you’d be much more amiable and find that trappers are just like everyone else.
Unless they are in fur clothing! Come up to Lincoln and have a breakfast of buckwheat pancakes. Your right, 99% of trappers are amiable. What is heartbreaking is to listen to trappers and hunters brag about their latest kill. As the gentleman (who is a trapper/hunter) said above; it is now a sport and not a economic factor.
Real conservationists should not drive so they will not kill animals…
Ten to twenty times as many lynx are killed by drivers than by traps…
Driving is something most people have to do these days. Trapping is something no one needs to do, although a small minority still choose to. There is a big difference there, RoundPonda. Choosing to do something that kills and injures for fun is something different than an accident with a car.
There are a ton of things no one needs to do, we don’t need to do the majority of the things we enjoy yet we do them. It is a recreational activity that some may not agree with, but why should a recreational activity that has been conducted in the world over for such a long time be taken away on the sole reasoning that some people don’t agree with it.
Because, Kired, as I already answered in the post above, trapping is a recreational activity which the intent is to kill something and causes much suffering. Traps are not selective. Just because something is legal does not make it right. Trapping is the perfect example of that.
When I’m out hunting and fishing what do you think my intent ultimately is? Should we do away with it, no we should not. I don’t trap but I’m willing to try it before I pass judgement on it, and I know many trappers and not one of them wants an animal to suffer even though it may occur, they dispatch quickly when they need too, and most will. It’s a time consuming task and wasting time poking and prodding and taunting an animal doesn’t sit right with them as some would have you believe. I see nothing wrong with trapping, fur bearers like various other animals are a resource to be used by the people. We as humans have the ability to affect our ecosystems and ultimately what determines what we save and how we manage things comes from us. We are the higher order and that puts us in a position to be able to do the things we do. Whether one person thinks it’s right or wrong is subjective, it’s all about how you were brought up and what your experiences in life tell you. So just because you think it’s wrong doesn’t mean it is.
About 10 years ago they found the first lynx in Maine in recent years. Since then the population has grown to an estimated 1000+. That is near exponential growth. 1 or 2 or 50 lynx a year will not destroy a population that is growing so quickly. I am a trapper, a hunter, a teacher, a father and have a biology degree. I am not a coward and use nature as hundreds of generations have before me. How many acres of land does it take to grow the cotton you wear. Which is more detrimental to the environment?
….
Seth, I will suggest that you made an error in your posting rather than you don’t know what you are talking about. We have had a small population of lynx in Maine throughout my lifetime and I am nearly 80 years old. I have actually interviewed Bob Waggs, a trapper now deceased, who caught a lynx at the site of the Spencer Lake POW camp back around 1960 when he lived in a tar paper shack with his trapping buddy, Walter Lane. (Look at the video titled Dead River Roughcut if you doubt me). I also know a few hunters and trappers who shot and killed lynx illegally thirty or more years ago and a couple of bobcat hunters who have illegally killed lynx in more recent times. And please understand that one of my favorite sports for many years was chasing bobcats with my hounds and I did see a few lynx tracks on the snow during my winter hunting ventures. I even had a friend who died in an airplane crash who was tracking radio-collared lynx. Please don’t tell these people that they found the first lynx in Maine about 10 years ago. Lynx probably have been here in Maine long before the first white man came to Maine which was in the early 1600’s. Yes, the population has grown somewhat in the last 10 years but not to the degree you are trying to make people believe. If there was a large sustainable population of lynx in Maine, the Feds would not have them on the Endangered Species List.
My Uncle and Dad used to trap many years ago. They use to get muskrat, beaver, martins, an occasional bobcat, occational lynx, fishers, and mink. They would go to the Allegash and spend a few weeks there. They would eat some of what they caught instead of packing in a lot of supplies. They were pretty good at what they did and made no appologies at what they did. My dad also worked at Eastern Fine Paper for 27 years, my Uncle was in construction, built the stacks at the papermills, repaired same for over 20 years. Both had good jobs but supplemented their incomes with trapping. They saw animals in Maine that people such as Bud Leavit said did not exist here and reported the findings to the warden service. Trappers are a tool the wildlife service can use to keep tabs on “endangered species” in an area.
Sir, please. We have a dozen or more well-paid wildlife biologists, some of whom are studying radio collared animals, like the lynx. Trappers are a useless tool to the wildlife service in so far as learning the habits of wildlife creatures. A trapper’s interest is solely in killing animals – not studying them. A trappers greatest skill is in trying to deceive the general public about traps and trapping.
Then let the trappers start reporting ALL the lynx they catch and let’s let USFWS radio collar them. If we can do this, we can start getting to the truth of the matter, not that Bill_Randall isn’t already telling it. If you can’t believe the truth about trapping from someone who trapped for 40 or 50 years, who can you believe. He’s been on both sides and even though the truth is hard for some to hear, it’s better than the half truths and lies that have been spouted about trapping, snaring and coyotes, to name a few, for the last ten or fifteen years.
The vast majority of trappers are honest, but like anything else there are always a few that are rotten. If caught in a foothold the animal will not suffer any long lasting ill effect 99% of the time. What half-truths and lies are you talking about?
To start, I am talking about unreported take.There is much more take than is reported. I even have an email from the wardens service which I have submitted with my comments showing that a trapper was being ostracized by other trappers for reporting a lynx. It should be available with my comments online.Then I can mention coyotes. Yes, they kill deer but they are not the problem in Northern Maine, only a symptom of declining deer habitat. The half truths come in when we talk about suffering. I was a wildlife rehabilitator for ten years for the state and I took a trap off a fox that had already chewed half its foot away. It lost the foot, if you care. When trappers say animals don’t suffer in traps it is a lie. I do understand that most trappers objectify the trapped animal and don’t feel they are doing anything wrong, but that is just evidence of a lack of conscience. I want to add that I do not think all trappers are dishonest, but we make laws for the people who would break them, and there are plenty who trap who are breaking the law in one way or another. Have you heard about hooking? I suspect you have.
Beaver carcass buried in the ice and the coyotes are falling prey to the 223… Sorry about your damn luck…
Now let us move on to the folks who are the real masters of deceit – our so-called self-appointed “experts.” For IF&W wildlife biologists to say, as they do, that trapping is a modern-day wildlife management tool is not only inaccurate, but is a self-serving statement. With beaver being the slight exception to the rule, the furbearers taken by trapping today are insignificant to the overall population. The only true wildlife manager is Mother Nature – IF&W wildlife biologists for the most part manage only their jobs which entails the daily production of reams of paperwork and Emails as they travel around the floors of their Augusta office and regional offices. While IF&W will admit to an ongoing study of lynx, they always fail to tell the public that the cost of this 6-year study is $2.6 million dollars. And in the end this costly study will only tell me and other experienced and older outdoorsmen what we have always known – that we now have and always have had a breeding population of lynx in Maine albeit a small one. Today, the existing forest habitat in lynx country created by past clear cutting practices is excellent snowshoe hare habitat. Lynx populations are determined by the constant change in population of their prey. Both species will soon decline as habitat changes to a more mature forest.
What is wrong with having Lynx in the wild? Why are they being trapped? Are they harmful to anyone?
They are not being targeted for trapping, this is trying to address situations when the are mistakenly caught it traps meant for other prey.
This is what they want you to believe.There has never been a lynx killed in a legal trap.Only two in illegal traps ever.Those two people were held accountable.We dont have a problem with the lynx being in the wild.Believe me we dont want to catch a lynx.This is complete misinformation and these organizations know it.I know one of the organizations is from california that filed a lawsuit against the State of Maine.It just shows me by your questions how misinformed the people really are.I not so sure that the lynx is their biggest concern but more a less just an exuse to open the door to stop trapping period,sneaky.
The misinformation surrounding trapping never ceases to amaze me. Please read how river otters were re-introduced in West Virgina and other states using foothold traps; http://www.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/magazine/archive/05spring/clown_of_waterways_returned.shtm
Trapping is indeed a very tough skill to learn, and requires knowing the habits of furbearers. No one off the street would be able to set a trap for, much less catch a coyote. The person posting most of the misinformation on this page is mad because he lost a lawsuit, one that all of you might want to read the judges opinion on. With regard to the lynx, just a few miles across the border it can be harvested without limit. It is not a threatened or endangered species by any stretch of the imagination. This is Maine folks. We hunt for food here, we trap furbearers for money here. Why arrogant people insist on moving here and trying to change our way of life is beyond me.
Still looking for the lawsuit info, Can you at least give me a hint?
Here is a link to the whole ruling – somewhere around page 36 is where it gets interesting;
http://www.med.uscourts.gov/opinions/woodcock/2009/jaw_11102009_1-08cv267_awi_v_martin.pdf
Oops – got the page number wrong – so I’ll post it – this is my favorite part;
But, the daily life of a mid-size predator in the woods of Maine is inherently stressful, one most humans would find overwhelmingly so, including the imperative to catch and eat elusive prey, the risk of being caught and eaten by more powerful, aggressive predators, and the exposure to harsh elements. Where along the lynx stress scale being trapped and released by a human would compare to being chased and nearly caught, killed and eaten by a fisher or coyote is speculative, but if such stressful events caused a “cascade of deterioration,” leading to death, it is a wonder the species has survived.
Further, the evidence reveals that some lynx, usually those who are aged, can become “trap happy,” a circumstance that occurs with many animals.
Elowe explained that the animal comes to realize that the benefit of easy food in the trap is worth the drawback of being trapped, and they are repeatedly found in traps. Id.876:22-25; 877:1-7. It is difficult to square AWI‟s contentions about stress-induced or behavioral injuries from trapping with the same animal that can become trap happy.
Thank you for that post
Everyone who supports trapping needs to send in their comment.This is nothing more than an attempt to shut down trapping starting in the state of Maine.With the extra restrictions added on to the ITP it will be impossible to catch the coyotes that we need to to help the deer herd.I believe it is the second restriction alone that has to do with the tension on the pan that alone would kill trapping.You would have to set the tension enough that a coyote would have to jump up and down just to spring it.Not going to happen.Please dont let these organizations fool you,they want this permit to pass because it would almost put an end to trapping for good.Stand up and fight these organizations.There has never been not one lynx killed in a legal trap.The two that were killed were by traps set illegally,thats thousands of nights gone bye and not one killed by a legal trap.This is a damned if you do and damned if you dont bunch of BS.
Chill pill dude. You are out of control. I really think you should think about what you are saying before hitting the button to post. Congrats on the new house and the big boy language, but you still come across as a mental midget!
Barbarics unite!!!
Had one of the best years yet on the trap line this year. Also seen an explosion of new trappers the last couple of years. Hopefully in the future the lynx will become another available fur bearer to target in Maine. Oh well, off to the skinnin’ shed.
for All of you who trap a beautiful animal……….Lynx… bury your head in shame……. this is an outrage………… for what purpose does it serve? I hope the same is done to you!! see how you like it.
I trap the ugly ones too:) For what purpose? Same purpose since the beginning of time, food and money. Beaver back strap is so goooood and castor and beaver prices are finally on the up swing. I’m fortunate enough to do it year around too because I do some summer time ADC work as well. Off to bury my head in my pillow.
So much for being a threatened species
Threatened or not, is there a NEED to kill these creatures?
Is there no respect for the life forms that inhabit the planet? What noble purpose is served by skinning such wonderful creature?
Please read the article prior to posting. No one is trying to kill lynx. Traps are set to avoid them.
Some bureaucrat’s who never stepped outside in anything but pennyloafers in their entire lives is going to decide the outcome of these beast… Doesn’t make much sense to me.
Here is a great website on the Lynx http://www.alaskafurexchange.com/hatshead.shtml