Monday I got a call that a holdout woodchuck had finally moved and I could pick up the animal. A contractor had called the client to notify her. (Client was monitoring the trapp supposedly.)

I get there around 4:30 and can see where one of my precious Comstocks was imprinted in the original hole, where it had been set on a stone walkway once removed, and no trap. I called the office to make sure no other guys had come by. Nobody else was there. Client lives on a small rural culdasac at the end of a long driveway.. No chance of odd visitors. I called the client. We concluded the contractor grabbed it for some reason. She says she'll call the guy.

I got a call today that my trap was in VERMONT where the guy lives. He "brought it home for a humane release" and will bring it back on Friday. I can't see bringing it all that way just to release it. I'm thinking it was dinner. I hope he didn't damage the trap opening it.

I'm ticked he screwed with my trap, but just want it back.


*Sigh*

I'd have a warrant waiting on him when he returns.
Larceny of the trap and tampering with a lawfully set trap.
I could probably argue the point to try and stretch it out with cruelty to animals for such a long ride in a cage to Vermont.
What would he think if you took one of his tools. He took one of yours!

There are lots of things I could do. Since the client has video cameras all over I can probably get video of it. I'd still run the risk of pissing off a good client that has brought us about $1200 in business this year.

I really just want my trap back.

1200 in business a year or not, it's none of his business. I'm sure if you grabbed some of his tools to take for a ride, he would be a little upset. I'd have my boot greased up for him

I just dealt with that myself. Employees had been feeding raccoons at one of the big home improvement stores and they'd become food aggressive. I set up just short of closing and caught the first raccoon less than an hour later. When I arrive the next morning the polycatch trap was missing. It had been hidden behind some of those giant planters at the base of a pallet rack. I later found the trap on a cart by the side gate of the garden center. Instead of lifting the latch and pushing the spring back, they pulled the spring forward destroying the spring and door. The store manager suspected a customer found it right before closing time. Camera proved that it was two of their night supervisors. They felt sorry for it and thinking that it was just trapped inside of the fenced garden center, they took it right outside the gate and released it for me and felt that destroying my trap in the process was still doing me a favor. These guys are the perfect argument against a $15 minimum wage. Needless to say they are paying for the raccoon and the trap.

Do any of you charge for the loss of service of the trap? I'd considered adding the three days of catches that I would have missed for the three days of shipping time the replacement trap would have.

In my contract, client is responsible for traps, or if waved, will be charged if traps are missing / broken.

Any decent contractor knows that if it aint yours, you don't mess with it. I would at least ask him to leave my stuff alone next time and make sure he is aware that what he did was a crime.

transporting live wild animals across state lines can be a federal offense, And Vermont has laws against relocating live animals due to diseases.

TrapperGreen is correct about the the law; it's enforcement that is non-existant. Even when put on trial, nobody ever seems to get

convicted. We had some guys transport a truckload of feral hogs up here from Texas, I guess. How many state lines did they cross?

No conviction either. How many times were any of you stopped for transporting live or dead fur bearers or game animals out of season?

We've been breaking the law for almost thirty years and never even questioned. I realize that we have nothing to worry about because

of our business, but I'm just pointing out that law enforcement has better things to do than enforce game laws that nobody seems to

care about.

. Unless you get caught with that swan lol

Exactly why I figure he was dinner. Who would go through all that hassle if dinner wasn't involved?

Alright.....
Whats the rest of the story?

The trap is on my truck. Unknown for the woodchuck. I have been back to the clients house and no holes were opened back up so the problem was solved.

1. Have a clear "hands off" clause in your contract. Nobody touches your traps, not no way, not no how.
2. Catches will be charged for, even if unauthorized release occurs.
3. Damaged or missing traps charged at replacement cost + 10%.

1. If I haven't caught anything for three days and you move the trap and catch something....Good For You!
2. If you let the neighbor's cat out, reset the cage, and caught the raccoon....Good For You!
3. A stolen trap means I didn't hide it well enough or I forgot to lock it down. Bad For Me......No charge

1. If you move the trap, I cant garauntee anything.
2. If you let the neighbors cat out, but forget to rebait, I cant garauntee anything.
3. Broken traps are responsibility of the customer, but I haven't charged when it happens, always feel to bad/

Wondering why people can't leave stuff alone! Not legal for them to move and release and to cross state lines, not good at all. Very frustrating when they do that stuff, but if you want to keep working for them you have to just smile and say please just call me next time and ask them to refrain from getting involved. Caught a girl at a college releasing squirrels, 14 of 83, but it was job security anyway. I was not vulgar or threatening, but emphatically made it known that traps and animals were not to be touched. Had a feeling that day, drove right past squirrels in traps straight to a bunch by a dumpster and caught her with the trap and squirrel in hand.

Also, why do clients fill in the holes minutes before you arrive? They know animals are going in and out and I explain I will set the trap at the entrance and then they fill them in anyway. Had one time that I called, said I'd be there in 30 minutes. They went right out and starting taking a dam out. Said they wanted to "help."

Jim is right. This isn't personal even though we take it that way. I recently had two sprung, empty chipmunk cages and the third one

was forced open and broken. I got very angry and removed the cages from the job. The customer called back and I went back and reset.

I caught a couple hundred dollars worth of additional chipmunks at this very easy job. This is a business that takes very little

start-up money and I need to stop getting my nose out of joint every time things don't go as smooth I want them.

Paul hit on something, not letting it get to you, as it sometimes can and has gotten me pretty hot, until I thought it over. We all are trying to do a good job, doing are best to resolve issues, a feeling of accomplishment that usually comes from catching and removing problem animals, which can be thwarted by those that let their emotions rule when they release animals. Onlookers sometimes superimpose human characteristics upon an animal, no way to fight it, just roll with it. I think getting upset comes from the fur trapping days in my case, when no animal equals no compensation. When people let stuff go, you still have your time in it and still have to charge, like associations and colleges etc. Only thing, now you may have something wised up that can be problematic. One time a few years back I had a neighbor take pics, release a fox, steal the traps, then went to the newspaper and brag about what a "good thing" he did. The part that burned my butt was the fact that though the liberal newspaper, as most are, knew who he was and knew he broke several laws, would not divulge the info after they said they would and DEC did not interview them. Frustration to the max. No bust even after DEC went to the guys house and the response was, "I've been expecting you." WHY? Simple, he did it.

I can appreciate Jim's frustration in this case. This non-response from authorities is due to the mindset of the community. We have

similar nests of liberals. ( Our state capitol comes to mind ) In situations like this I would probably leave a very smelly skunk

next to the air conditioner intake with a note pinned to it saying "I've been expecting you!"