Traps, Trapping, and Furbearer Management

Trapping furbearers has been a way of life for some families for generations, it might be the only income that a family has if they are living where they do not have the opportunity for another job or if they are trying to make a living just off the land. Trapping isn’t just to make money either, it helps out other populations of animals too. Trapping has been viewed by some people as inhuman or not ethical because of the traps used or just overall killings of the animals. Without trapping we could be overrun by many different predators and start seeing significant declines in other animal populations.

Why is trapping being frowned upon by most of the public population that are non-trappers? Basically the public is just looking at the animal that is caught in the trap, they are seeing the animal being physically held back and some will say that they are suffering while being held in the trap. Many people oppose the foothold trap saying it hurts the animal and it suffers, or what if you catch a non-target species, it now has a broken foot and you cannot release it because it will not be able to survive. The answer to that is yes that can be true but trapping is heavily regulated and the traps have to have specific specifications to them, not saying injury can’t happen but it is less likely with the trapping regulations. There needs to be a way to help the public understand trapping and hopefully give them some insight on what the benefits are.

To educate the public on trapping I think we need to implement a more public approach and hold programs to educate people more on it. Yes we do have the trapping course you have to complete before you can trap but I think there needs to be a program that is focused on what trapping is and what the benefits of trapping are to present to the public who might not know what trapping truly is other than just catching an animal in a trap. We need to promote how the traps have been improved and explain other ways and methods furbearers can be taken. I know that people even though with seeing what trapping is all about will still not accept it but as long as we present them with the information and what trapping really involves they might not oppose it as much. If we talk more publically and maybe come up with programs or even a short promotional video that tells the truth about trapping, we can get more people to accept it.

I have been talking about the benefits of trapping a lot in this so what are the benefits of trapping? Trapping animals has many benefits, it can be used as income, a hobby or ways to control animal populations in your area along with a way to study wildlife. Wildlife biologists use trapping as a way to monitor the population of animals in an area and how healthy they are. They look for diseases in the population and if the population is healthy enough to be trapped that year or if a management plan needs to be put in place. Trapping has been used to protect endangered species from becoming extinct by lowering the predator population due to trapping and hunting. Another benefit trapping has is all the proceeds that are collected by the sales of trapping and furbearer licenses are put back into improving wildlife and their habitat, it is one of the ways the Pennsylvania Game Commission is funded. It maintains a healthy population of the animal also, with less animals in the area you do not have to worry about sick animals because of competing for food sources and starvation is not a factor in how the animals are dying.

In conclusion trapping is not a bad thing or should be frowned upon, it is actually beneficial to the animals and the habitat. Trapping just gets a bad reputation because people talk without knowing what the actual facts and what trapping actually does in a wildlife management practice. What I suggest to get people to understand the art of trapping is to have programs that explain what is all involved in trapping and what the benefits are of trapping. This will not change everyone’s opinion on the topic but it might help them understand more than they did before. Through public education we can help the general public understand more than they did and although it might not produce an influx of trappers going out it will help with knowledge and practice of trapping.

Colton Treaster

Citation

"Traps, Trapping, and Furbearer Management." The Wildlife Society (n.d.): n. pag. The Wildlife Society. Web. 2 Mar. 2017.

http://www.furfishgame.com/featured_articles/Archived/2009-03/trapline_03_09.php