TRAPPERS PAGE
CERTIFIED TRAPS
And so we trappers have been ordered by the almighty powers to get rid of our old [inhumane] traps and buy the new instant kill certified traps; [where have I heard that before? Was it five years ago?] Anyway, some trappers have purchased the new traps and are using them.
Case 1 My! My! What have I heard over the Hf radio? A trapper caught a martin outside his cabin in one of his new certified traps—just before dark—; The martin was not dead; he left the martin in the trap for eleven hours; the next morning he went outside and KILLED THE MARTIN TO TAKE IT OUT OF THE TRAP.
CASE 2; A TRAPPER SET HIS NEW CERTIFIED MAGNUM TRAP AND FORGOT TO ATTACH THE TRAP TO THE CABLE TIE; A MARTIN GOT CAUGHT IN THIS INSTANT KILL TRAP; THE TRAPPER HAD TO CHASE DOWN THIS DEAD MARTIN AND FOUND IT DEAD—ON THE BOTTOM OF A BEAVER POND
Obviously we trappers have been lied to again. The new certified traps do not kill martin any faster than the old ones; but are more dangerous for the trapper to use [especially the larger ones]. When are we trappers going to tell those trap scammers to shove off and start reporting the Truth about the conibear traps to the government? Conibear traps are inhumane, dangerous to use , and are less than user friendly. As long as nothing is said by the trappers the scams will continue and trappers will continue to lose thousands of dollars to purchase new traps which are nothing more than ‘doctored’ up old styled traps with fancy new names.
Remember; Sheep get sheared and slaughtered; you must fight to get a wolverine.
Casey
COTTRELL KILL TRAP
Open file;
The purpose of the Cottrell Kill Trap is to provide the trappers with a safe, user friendly, humane trap which the trapper can build on his trapline with minimum tools. The Cottrell Kill trap was designed by a 30 year veteran of trapping and built and tested on the trapline 70 miles remote in the mountains. A drill [a brace and bit will work], hacksaw, hammer, strap iron and barrel steel from a gas drum], a few 2" common nails for rivets and elbow grease is all one needs. The springs from a 330 conibear were used for the larger sized built by the trapper. Nothing smaller than a conibear280 spring or magnum springs should be used. Smaller sized traps for the smaller animals could use smaller springs but small traps will not guard against wolverine tearing up the line.
Every so often the powers that be make the trappers turn over their traps for 'more humane' traps or certified traps or just "give me your money” traps. If the trapper can make a medically qualified humane, quick kill trap, then he can give the trap scammers the middle finger instead of cash. One cannot make a trap more humane than the trap that kills quickly.
It should also be noted, that if the trapper can make his own traps, then the trap manufacturers will not be able to sell their coni bear traps and the price may well come down to reasonable levels.
It should be noted here that the conibear trap was mandated by law as a quick kill humane trap and thus the leghold trap was banned. If the 'woodstream 1&2 series conibear were so humane as to change the law, how come, as new traps came out ,the woodstream 1&2 series were declared illegal even though they were certified by law. Do we smell a scam here? Is the Law also corrupt? Did The Fur Institute of Canada lie to the Law and trappers [for cash]?--Is what they are saying now just another lie? Perhaps it is time to give those people the middle finger and build our own traps!!
If the trappers prove the new kill trap in the bush and make their reports to the Ministry of Forestry, the trap can be 'bush certified' and the trapper will have a good trap that will not kill him like the coni bear striker bar traps can.
The Cottrell kill trap still needs more testing under all sorts of trapline conditions. Only many trappers in many locations can do this. It is up to the trappers who use the kill trap to honestly report their findings to the powers that be. If the trappers fail to stand up and report, then the powers that be will continue to rip them off with dangerous ' give me your cash' traps. [It is only a matter of time until some trapper gets caught in a magnum, strikerbar coni bear trap and freezes to death tied to a tree with a broken arm]
Cottrell Kill Trap;
1/ cannot catch the trapper
2/ cannot catch squirrels, weasel, or whiskey jacks. [They can not fire it]
3/ Does not need a protection set - it will catch any animal from a martin to a wolf with the same setting.
4/Does not require ropes or trap setting tools to open or set
5/ has a designated medical [anatomical] kill strike area for any animal and kills instantly
6/ is twice as fast and twice as powerful as a 330 coni bear
7/ IF THE TRAPPER IS FLAT STUPID AND TENDS THE TRAP THROUGH THE SET JAWS - THE TRAP WILL BREAK YOUR ARM. If this should happen, simply turn the trap end up, place one foot on the lower frame, grab the upper spring with the free hand and pull -- You’re out of it - with a broken arm!!
The kill trap is not a random hit trap like the coni bear trap. With the bait set properly, the animal is surgically killed by a designated strike, either on the cerebellum or a strike across the heart.
For;
[Larger animals, such as wolverine or fox] The cerebellum strike IMMEDIATELY KILLS THE ANIMAL.
[Smaller animals such as martin or mink] The strike across the heart, compresses the ribcage completely thereby collapsing the lungs, stopping blood flow from the heart, and in most cases breaks the martins back. The animal is dead in seconds.
In the case of timber wolf, the strike is just behind the eyes. The blow on the zygomatic bone is transferred by the zygomatic bone to the cerebellum and the wolf is rendered unconscious. Concurrently, the blow to the mid bone of the head shocks the brain and causes a massive brain haemorrhage; the wolf will not regain consciousness. [Remember, the strike force foot poundage remains on the jaws AFTER the trap has fired, and will not release until the trapper resets the trap.
It must be remembered that at no time in trapping is there any absolute guaranty. The possibility of an 'off' strike always exists. So build the trap strong in case of mishaps .In case of a mishap firing, the powerful pressure of the springs is always working on the animal, so survival after an 'off' firing will be short if the animal is body caught below the diaphragm [behind the heart]
Neck caught animals cannot survive the opposing power of 330 coni bear springs used in the kill trap design. A broken neck and strangulation are certain. Death will take but a few seconds.
It should be noted that a strike immediately behind the head [1st and 2nd vertebrae] is a devastating kill blow to the medulla caudate [arousal brain of the animal]. Although not as quick as on the cerebellum [back of the head] death will occur in seconds.
The chain to the trap should be run above the trap [up the trunk of the tree] then if a cat or wolverine 'paws' the bait, the jaws will be powerful enough to hold. As the animal pulls back on the trap the high set chain will lift the trap off the ground reducing the animals effective pulling power.
The Cottrell Kill Trap should not be considered a replacement for the coni bear or leghold traps. Although the Kill Trap can cover most of the sets the other types of traps use, there will always be some sets which only certain types of traps can make; And, as every trapper knows, some animals will go for one type of trap and not others, so the trapper needs several different types of trap to cover his line so as to accommodate the different characteristics of the species.
The main advantages of the Cottrell Kill Trap is; Trapper safety, User friendly, Needs no protection set, medical anatomical] Para metered strike zones to instil a quick kills.
For plans; www.caseyshuntcamp.net
Trappers who have used the steel jawed leghold traps often see an animal with a broken leg jumping against the broken bone without any apparent pain. Those of us who were raised on farms know how big of a sissy farm animals are when they get a sore foot or leg. What's the difference. And why are fresh caught animals full of fight .when animals caught for a time are sluggish and non-responsive ?
Leghold Trap Chronology
The following is taken from neurological research from Universities of United States, Scotland and Canada.
Canadian reference; University of Toronto, Neurological Research Dept. Toronto, Ontario.
Definitions;
Opiate - A powerful drug produced in the brain; [pain killer]
Enkaphalins; Opiate from the third ventricle
Endorphins; Opiate from the pituitary gland
Amygadala [In Brain]; Nerve waystation of the brain and body functions; Also a major opiate receptor.
Medulla Located in neck at base of brain] ; Arousal center of an animal.
When an animal steps into a steel jawed leghold trap, the following sequence's] occur;
1/ The impact of the trap saturates the nerve response arc - no pain
2/ The foot bone breaks
3/ Opiates from the brain are sent to the wounded area immediately and the wound is anaesthetised - no
pain.
4/ The struggling of the animal continues the call for more opiates and the blood saturates with opiates
5/ The opiates in the blood occupy the sodium positions of the spinal cord and inhibit neural sequences of the spine to the brain.
6/ Neural impulses to the medulla are reduced and the animals awareness decreases- no terror
7/ The amygadala saturates with opiates.
8/ Neural feedback systems of the body/brain are interrupted and the animal goes into glandular dysfunction and dies.
Because the 'call' for opiates [ pain killers] is immediate after injury, at no time while the animal is trapped , does the animal feel pain or is the animal fully aware of its plight.
The above sequence only happens if an animal breaks a bone when caught. Those traps which do not break bones do not reduce the terror of the animal, because few opiates are released .
The Doctor who confirmed this chronology remarked; " You are essentially correct, but it looks like hell" He may be right but at least it is humane.
If No terror, If No pain,...Then ' No inhumane'.
This chronology was sent to the forestry biologist in 1983. He acknowledged in his reply that the coni bear trap does not kill some animals. Yet, still the Law was passed, claiming the coni bear trap was an instant kill trap[ inferred, across the board].
The BCTA and OTA both received copies of the chronology - neither replied. [we should note here that all TA's made big bucks off the conibear Laws and still are to this day. Every time the trapper is forced to turn over his traps the TA's profit from sales.[ So much for your representatives]
It is becoming more and more obvious that the trapper cannot rely on any representation for his well being. If the trappers want to secure their future in trapping, they will have to take their own initiative and move on their own behalf. This is difficult by ones self. However, trappers have the hf radio and must learn to use it to consolidate their problems to a common cause and to a common solution. This requires being truthful in their reports; And courage, to stand for what they believe in.
Good luck !
Casey
MARTIN OBSERVATIONS 2007
On Feb. 24, 2007 a martin [suspect a young male or large female] took up residence in the woodpiles in front of my house. The wood piles are surrounded by snow so I could tell what activities the martin did each day. Every time I observed any martin sign I would brush clean the tracks with a broom thus giving me a ‘clean slate’ for the next event. It must be taken into consideration when analysing the following martin log that there are mice in the woodpile and there is a constant supply of food for the martin to go to. The martin never went any farther than the food then back to the wood pile.
I am not going to draw any conclusions for the reader; each trapper who reads the following may draw his own conclusions;
Feb; 24, Martin arrives in wood pile and feeds
25; no activity
26; feeds
27; no activity
28, feeds am and pm
March; 1 to 9 no activity [ strong winds and snow]
10; feeds
11; no activity
12, 13, 14; feeds
15, 16, 17; no activity [winds]
18,19, 20; feeds
21,22,23,24; no feed; strong winds and snow
25; feeds
26 no feed [high winds and snow]
A hard crust formed on the snow after the storm and no more martin sign was found.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TRAPPER
In the old days a trapper was a man who could pack his winter supplies into his trapline on his back; cut his trap line trails with an axe; snowshoe his lines in the winter and come into town in the spring alive. With a few dozen traps he would trap any animal in the bush; snows, wind, deep cold were all a part of his lifestyle. He was one tough man! Most of his food came from the bush. The heavy meat was packed into his small cabin on his back. His satisfaction was that he was smart enough to catch the fur – any fur - and survive and that he was tough enough to stand up to anything that stood in his way; bears, wolves, deep snow, bitter cold and game wardens – he was a man who was good and tough!
This was the type of man that could take a leghold trap, read the bush properly and catches any type of animal that crossed his trap line. He didn’t have to go to town in the spring and brag about how good of a bushman he was; he just had to show up with his fur. His actions did the talking.
What happened? Technology! Slowly the technological advances of society encroached upon the bushman’s way of life. The snowshoes were replaced by ski-doos; airplanes became more available to pack in the extra amenities and corruption of the furriers became more refined.
The ski-doos reduced a twelve hour packing day on snowshoes to to just a few hours of riding on the ski-doo.; the good food and comfortable cabins upgraded the small line cabins into homes – good food, comfortable surroundings less work – the trapper became soft.
It was the refining of the furriers corruption that tipped the scales and the trapper stopped being a bushman and became a bush tourist
The leghold trap was – and still is – the most effective and humane trap in the bush [see leghold chronology – trapper’s page] but the furriers, trap manufacturers and trappers associations became greedy with a new game plan. If they could make this softened bush tourist believe that a man should set a specific trap for each specific animal species and then introduce a new trap along with this propaganda they could sell the trapper new traps every five years or so at huge profits; thus making the selling of traps a greater income than what they could make from trapping commissions. The coni bear line of traps was reborn.
At first no seasoned trapper would give the coni bear trap a second glance but as the old trappers disappeared and the bush tourist trappers took over indoctrination became easy. They couldn’t scare and old trapper. Try and one would find themselves looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. The old trappers were men on their feet, in charge of their own life – one tough breed! But the bush tourist trappers were different – soft trappers; yes Sir Men; like a private in the army taking orders from an officer they obeyed without thought or complaint to the powers of society and the gangs of corruption.
The gangs of corruption used the powers of society to scare the bush tourist trappers into submission. It wasn’t long before the bush tourist trappers were talking about setting so many special traps for each species of animal as they had been taught – forgetting that any animal of any species could be caught with a properly set single leghold trap. The bush tourist trappers readily surrendered their leghold traps in exchange for coni bear traps – losing at a two to one ratio thus having to purchase as many traps as they received in the exchange to keep up their line trap count.
Now the gangs of corruption had them running and every five years they would force the bush tourist trappers to change over their old inhumane traps for new humane traps. Somehow it never seemed to occur to the bush tourist trappers that something was wrong. The old traps which they had to get rid of had been called quick kill, humane traps just the year before; now they were inhumane and illegal. If a trap is a quick kill – humane – trap IT IS A QUICK KILL HUMANE TRAP FOREVER ISN’T IT? DUH! But the bush tourist trappers complied every five years like sheep to the shears at a high economic loss; buying the new - give me your money – traps and working off their traplines to pay the bill. Even the knowledge that the newer traps were becoming increasingly dangerous to handle did not elicit an outcry. This mandatory trap renewal nets the gang of corruption a cool two hundred and fifty million dollars every five years or about fifty million dollars every year – much more than their commission on the fur would bring.
Are the tourist trappers angry? Yes! Are the tourist trappers complaining about their plight? Yes; but in a whisper in the back room of their remote house. Will the tourist trappers do anything about their plight? No! They are tourist trappers – not Bushmen!
Casey
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