Trapping Commonly Misunderstood Use of Renewable Resource

By Miles Benker - Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Remember the cartoon when Wile E. Coyote gently pours bird seed onto the trigger of a huge trap with teeth on its jaws to catch the Roadrunner?

For many people, this is their first image of trapping. And as society changes with more and more people growing up in urban settings, fewer are exposed to trapping. Thus, misconceptions commonly arise. One misconception is that trapping threatens or endangers animal populations. This might have been the case 200 years ago, but today's state, federal and international laws protect the vast majority of species, especially those endangered and threatened.

Laws that keep wildlife from becoming endangered are the tip of the iceberg. Nearly two dozen laws set standards for animal welfare by limiting when, where and how animals are captured. Some date to the 1930s, when sizes of traps were first restricted.

Over a quarter of a century ago, trapping organizations worked with both state and federal agencies to make some sweeping changes in trapping regulations. They banned certain types of traps, required trappers to visit their sets more frequently, and took other steps to improve animal welfare and selectivity of trapping methods.

Laws work best with accountability, so trapping is highly regulated and laws are strictly enforced. In Idaho, traps must be marked with the owner's name and address. Trappers are also required to obtain permission from landowners or tenants before trapping on private property. Such laws help ensure that trapping is conducted responsibly, in terms of both wildlife populations and individual animals. Idaho trappers are also required to complete a harvest report each season. In the case of bobcat and river otter harvest, a mandatory check and reporting system is required for each animal harvested.   

Furbearing animals are an abundant, renewable resource. Legally trapped animals are numerous and their populations are secure. Wildlife agencies manage furbearer populations in much the same way they manage other fish and wildlife populations, through the harvest information provided by sportsmen. This information is required through trapper reports and the mandatory check and reporting system.

Furbearer populations are monitored with goals for managing those populations in the best interest of the public and for the conservation of those particular species. Fish and Game managers use the data to set harvest regulations and implement restrictions to protect and enhance the species' long-term survival.

Those furbearers which are rare or federally listed as threatened or endangered are monitored using trend counts such as snow-track surveys to determine their presence and relative densities throughout the state. The public is asked to assist the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in reporting any wolverine or lynx sightings to the nearest Fish and Game office.

Idaho has eleven species defined as fur-bearing mammals. These species are marten, fisher, mink, otter, beaver, muskrat, bobcat, lynx, red fox, raccoon, and badger. There are no seasons for fisher or lynx as their numbers are low and they are considered rare. Lynx are listed as a threatened species in Idaho.

The Department provides an opportunity to harvest those furbearing animals which are abundant. Most are harvested with legal trapping techniques only, while badger, bobcat, raccoon and red fox may also be hunted.

River otter harvest is very limited with low harvest quotas for each of the seven regions of Idaho. There is a two otter limit for any one trapper for the season, provided the harvest quota for that region is not exceeded. Also, closure areas have been established to reduce potential conflicts between trappers and other user groups. The Clearwater Region quota is 15 otter, while the overall statewide quota is 107 otter.

Miles Benker is a Regional Wildlife Biologist in the Clearwater Region. He is also the Regional Furbearer Coordinator.

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