Thursday, February 3, 2011
Trapping indefensible
Posted Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 4:00 AM
In “Feeling the Squeeze” (Jan. 27, 2011), trapper David Cronenwett bemoans the lack of “an ethical trapping movement.” Well, that’s because there’s no ethical virtue to recreational and commercial trapping. Torturing, clubbing and stomping innocent animals to death is indefensible. Causing panicked animals to chew off their feet (the norm), or spin until their entire limbs break off and then chew through skin, bone, veins, tissue and muscle to escape to certain death (so common trappers call it a wring-off) is not defensible. Snaring animals and leaving them for days until their heads fill with liquid is not defensible. This last example trappers call a “jellyhead,” like the mountain lion found in the Bitterroot still alive and strangling in agony after five days in a snare, head big as a balloon, with her dead kits at her feet.
Trappers today say anything to obscure the real horror. They “explain” that they are “recycling” when they trap small animals to use as bait for larger ones. And the carcasses they discard like pop bottles are now offerings for “the animal kingdom.” Huh?
Animals aren’t trash to be recycled or thrown away. They are living, sentient creatures who suffer a terrifying, slow death for the pleasure of trappers. For every target animal trapped an average of two are discarded. That means 150,000 animals suffer and die this way every year in Montana. This also means that six species are losing their battle for survival: the fisher, pine marten, otter, lynx, wolverine and swift fox. Currently the tiny, six-pound swift fox is being reintroduced—at great taxpayer expense—for the second time while trapping continues. This is not recycling. It’s the wholesale, silent slaughter of our wildlife in the most inhumane way conceivable.
Trappers claim they work harder than hunters, and hunters occasionally take bad shots that cause suffering. So what’s the difference? The difference is that with trapping suffering is the rule, not the exception. Hunters track game over long hours and rugged terrain and have our target squarely in our sights when we shoot. We don’t rig a trip-wire rifle over bait and go home. We don’t come back when convenient to see what kind of creature we caught. Trapping is like Christmas, say trappers. They never know what they’ll find.
Then there’s the old chestnut that some trapped animals just “kind of lay around until you come up” to stomp on their chests and club them to death. The reality is these animals are in a severe state of shock.
Trappers could come to the rescue. Yes, trappers could use their talent and skill to live-trap beaver families where people don’t want them and release them by high mountain streams where they’ll build up water retention and restore wetland ecology and wildlife habitat. Beaver dams are nurseries for all kinds of wildlife from birds to big game. Trappers can make a grand contribution to restoring the rich diversity of the Northern Rockies of the early 19th century, before the wholesale trapping of beaver drained aquifers, turned the land semi-arid and trapped beavers to extinction. By 1841 the land was silent, many species trapped out of existence. Beavers were gone. In the 1850s they had to be reintroduced in Montana.
I have great respect for the survival skills, including trapping, honed by people in earlier times. Today, trappers admit they are lucky to break even. There is no longer a need to trap on public lands. It’s just animal cruelty.
Let’s consign this torture to history.
Connie Poten
Missoula
Comments (12)
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I certainly agree. I can even go you one better in the abuse department by trappers. Some trappers enjoy turning their coyote kill dogs loose on animals that are in leg hold traps. It is a blood sport that the trappers enjoy and has nothing to do with selling fur.
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Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks continues to put the interests of trappers ahead of the well-being and safety of the American public and their pets for the financial gain of a ruthless minority.
It also continues to enable the trapping, both legal and indiscriminate, of rare and endangered species such as wolverine and fisher.
It's time that MFWP and our state legislature re-examine our priorities, and consider treating vulnerable, rare, and helpless species compassionately which happens to be the hallmark of a civilized society.
Its time this so called "sport" went the way of the honest politician....Long gone! Poten has done her homework and you cant argue with her facts! Ditto to Karen NM & Jerry Black's comment.
Ms. Poten's notion of trapping is based entirely in her head. She has probably never seen a trapped animal before, and is merely conjecturing based on the didacticism of anti-trapping groups. Next time I want un-biased information on Islam, I'll call Billy Graham. There are so many un-truths that I don't know where to begin. The biggest myth is that animals chew their feet off to escape a trap. It's simply not true. But because their are some many people out their completely and hopelessly ignorant of trapping that continually spout this myth, it has become accept as fact.
Most species were not trapped out of existence, but rather it was habitat loss. Something that every person in missoula is guilty of. Developement in the missoula and bitterroot valleys has killed, maimed, and starved more animals than trapping.
But its much easier and satisfying to attack a misunderstood and despised group of people rather than gathering un-biased information and confront the fact that the non-trapper in missoula driving cars, building sub-divisons, or demanding more developemnet is far more destructive to wildlife than handful of traps
Animals chewing their feet off is not a myth. It obviously doesn't happen in every instance, in fact, there may be times when an animal sustains no injury by the trap. So what? There's OTHER horrific incidents that ex-trappers have written about after they had a change of heart and could no longer bring their hands to do harm so stop insinuating people are making this stuff up! There's no conspiracy here, there's real people having real experiences with pets getting into traps, human injuries and the stories of extreme cruelty to wildlife have been reported by eyewitnesses, hunters, BLM employees, hikers... Who do you think anti-trapping groups are?? They're people like me who were out hiking one day minding their own business and experienced a traumatic event involving a trapper and several trapped animals! Look, I've spent two years doing my homework. I have gathered unbiased information from all kinds of sources inculding trappers, hunters, biologists, wildlife protection orgs, trap victims, etc...And yes, from my perspective also, there are so many un-truths spouted off by trappers and their supporters, I don't know where to begin.....
I am a trapper. I seen with my own eyes and known with my own hands what trapping is. And the anti-trapping movement doesn't come close to accurately representing it. Yes there are untruths on BOTH SIDES.
When I set a trap I set it with the animal's comfort, other wildlife, and people in mind. I DO NOT set a trap if I think it will unnecessarily harm the animal
I am not a heartless monster seeking to inflict pain upon your dog and wildlife like you portray me. You have never met me, yet you hate me as I can read it in the diction of your writing.
Ask yourself this: Who is more cruel? the trapper that catches and animal and causes it pain for say 8 hours, or the coyote who bites the leg of a deer and lets it fester and chases it to the point of exhaustion for over 24 hours (I've seen it firsthand)
Pain and suffering is inherent part of life. Western culture is terrified of it. Eastern cultures celebrate it. It is not good or bad. I do not derive joy from causing animals pain, in fact its mostly a sadness, but I understand that pain and suffering is a necessary part of life. And when it comes my time to die, I will not complain if it is full of pain and suffering
Do not be so close minded to think your worldview is the only one. Many innocent people have been killed in the past because someone thought that they were right.
Just so you know there is no such thing as unbiased information. Everyone has a bias.
If your conscience allows you to contribute to the inherent individual & collective pain & suffering of life then so be it...You maintain that you are a consciencious & responsible trapper and there may be more like you, but sir, there are enough that are not and the "others" do not take precautions to prevent undue pain & suffering or check traps in a reasonable time frame, or have concern for public safety or care about trapping out an area...etc. Extremists in Utah proposed a seven day trap check time & they darn well felt entitled to it for their "convenience". Um, I think people like that DO qualify for the 'heartless monster' category...Wild animals represent freedom that all living things desire...wild animals have inspired native cultures to mirror their strengths, abilities & free spiritedness...those attributes of magnificence that you choose to extinguish ..not for survival but for profit and recreation. Live with your choices then..
And still, you flatter yourself if you think you are above those who live in the dungeon of human consciousness, ten thousand flights of stairs from a glimpse of light...lacking of insight and understanding of what makes a man great...the fact that you cannot answer your own question of "who is more cruel..." is a testiment to who and what you are...
He who has not sinned cast the first stone...or something like that
I'd say neither one is more cruel than the other. In fact judging by your hatred of other human beings, I'd be far more afraid of what you'd be capable of. You have a cruel and sadistic attitude toward other human beings far darker than any trapper I know. It is borderline psychotic.
"Wild animals represent freedom that all living things desire." Freedom is a human value that animals have no concept of. Your anthropomorphizing of animals existing in an amoral system demonstrates your poor perception of mother nature.
I desire freedom from people like you.
Yes, you trappers are quite misunderstood. I suppose I am quite sadistic and cruel for having compassion for the wild animals you suffer and for questioning your humanity. My bad.
Gulo,
so Thoreau was wrong when he wrote "in wilderness is the preservation of wildness?"
Your statement that "Freedom is a human value that animals have no concept of" is laughable to say the least. If anyone knows what freedom is, it is wild animals! And they ususally chose to stay away from domesticated people... Amen to Karen in NM!
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