Trapping otters

[Patocazador]

I saw this online. Otters ain't so bad after all.

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/sN...6b-11e3-a048-d37169144a04_otter-alligator.jpg

This photo was taken near where I bowhunt every Fall. The otter ate the gator. Goood otter.

 

[stressed]

Relieve my ignorance. I realize the cyclical nature of critter populations with weather and food. But is the amount of trapping having any noticeable impact on populations? Or does it generally seem that at the start of a season, there are pretty much just as many critters as the year before?

(It's been many a decade since I did any trapping, back right after WW II. )

18 coon, few yotes.

Art, you served in WWII?

 

[Art Eatman]

Born in 1934. Spent a bunch of time with my grandparents during the war, learning farming and ranching. Found some Victor #2s and tried my luck. About all I ever trapped were possums around the hen house. After the war, my folks bought 150 acres next door, so I kept on doing the farm-boy thing.

Just a kid, in the learning curve of life. For one thing, I learned the drawback to plowing behind a horse: The view never improves.

 

[3212]

I think trapping has declined in Pennsylvania.I trapped muskrats on a small stream in farmland in the 1950's.It was so common there were several buyers who would take the unskinned rats.Most of my buddies trapped alsne of them specialized in skunks.We had some smelly days in the one room school.I see muskrats frequently while trout fishing.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I think trapping has declined in Pennsylvania.

Actually, trapping has increased all over the country since fur prices have risen sharply. Last year fur prices set record highs not seen before. Pennsylvania is a major fur producing state

 

[3212]

I've been out of touch with the trappers since the price decline years ago.The guys I knew gave it up.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I understand fully! I took an extended hiatus from trapping in the late '80s that lasted until 2010. I missed the big fur boom of the '80s and later the beaver boom of 2000.

 

[3212]

Apparently,somebody wants real fur again.Is the demand coming from overseas?

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Is the demand coming from overseas?

Yes, Russia, China and Greece to name a few.

 

[3212]

I always thought beavers were a cold climate animal.I never realized they lived in our southern states.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I always thought beavers were a cold climate animal. I never realized they lived in our southern states.

Beaver are so abundant in the south they are not requlated as furbearers(but are classified as such). We can shoot them year around but daylight hours only and can trap them year around without even buying a trapping license. Landowners are constantly looking for trappers to clear them from their land.

 

[3212]

Some years ago beavers were introduced into a narrow wooded valley where I hunt deer.The road crosses the stream in several places.The beavers built dams that flooded the road.A few years later the dams were gone and I haven't seen them since.I have heard of bank beavers that don't build dams but burrow into stream banks.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Beaver bank dens are the norm here. Houses are rare but do exist. Every stream here has at least one dam but waters deep enough for the beaver, such as ponds or lakes, have neither dam nor houses. In fact, old beaver bank dens are excellent places to catch otter.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

So how did all you otter trappers do this season? I ended the season with 8 of the fish eaters. That brings my 3 year total to 28. Our southern populations seem to have increased to almost nuisance levels.