Hi, I am fairly new to trapping in general and am new to running my own business as a wildlife control operator. I have the opportunity to trap boomers or mountain beavers for a Forestry company. After my liability insurance gets in place we are to discuss what I would like as an hourly wage while trapping for them. This is a dream for me to be in the mountains trapping and getting paid but yet don't want to shoot too low on wage. Any of you have experience with this? Not sure how many hours a week I will average and I am sure it will vary week to week. I also don't want to come up with a ridiculously high rate, where they think "this guy must be crazy". Any help would be appreciated! Thank you.

What's the difference between mountain beavers and regular beavers? Pardon the stupid question.

I am sorry, that is not a stupid question. I forget that mountain beavers don't live in other areas other than the Pacific Northwest, they are actually not related to Beavers at all and are just a rodent with no value in fur. They cause millions of dollars in damage to Forestry lands by clipping the seedlings or girdling trees in reforestation areas.

They are the ones with the mountain beaver problem, not you. Charge enough so they might actually say, "That guy must be crazy". DO NOT charge by the hour. You won't stay in business no more than a few months if you charge hobby prices. They are the ones with the mountain beaver problem, not you. You may want to learn about running a business and then learn about trapping. They are the ones with the mountain beaver problem, not you.

Thanks for the tip. I have ran my own business for the last 10 years but not doing this kind of work. I am new to fur trapping but have been in the pest control business so not completely new to trapping animals. I normally like to charge by the job and have had great success so far but this Forestry company does not price by the job and negotiating an hourly wage is the only way they will do it. They do pay my mileage to the unit and back as well but I have no idea if I will be out there 10 hours a week or 40 hours... I guess depends on activity. They also have others doing this line of work for them but they are a larger company with a team and have set as many as 2000 traps in one unit but I will be handling areas where activity is just starting maybe setting 15 to 20 traps in a unit. Do you think $30 an hour seems reasonable or too high/low? Obviously I am just looking for an opinion and there is no way for you to know what will work for me. Thank you!

Seems to me that would be based on your costs. What are licenses and insurance costing you ? Depreciation and maintenance on your vehicle ? Who buys the traps etc etc etc

more than you think you should to start,then work from there.

Thank you, I am waiting to hear back from the insurance so that will definitely play a part in the pricing again its just tough I guess because I really don't know how often they will need me. I will be buying the traps, so I will also put that into the pricing. Thank you for the response

Yes, that is what I was thinking, I just don't want to come across greedy or like I am trying to take advantage of them because they are a big multi million dollar operation. Thanks for the response

You would also want to consider who is responsible for things such as witholdings, taxes, whether state & local. Workman's comp etc. Are you their employee or a private contractor ? How frequently will you be paid ? Weekly or monthly ?? Don't price your work too low. People may think your price is a reflection of your work

Mountain beaver.

Maybe a couple of different rates, depending on the total hours each week they need you. If it was me, I would need more per hour if it was ten hours than if it was 40 hours.

I learned something new today. I figured mountain beaver must be bigfoot food. But no, it really exists.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/aplodontia-rufa#conflict

Are you allowed to salvage and sell parts of the animals you trap? Items like skulls and pelts (in the winter time).

Even though they are not a fur bearer, there is a market for those items.

Make sure this question is answered in your contract with the timber company.

I have no idea what to charge but i certainly would NOT charge by the hour. Piece work or a weekly/monthly amount.

Good Luck.

The rate you charge has to reflect all of your hidden costs, as well as what you want to make an hour. Also, a business should generate a profit.

Cost of traps, bait, truck wear and tear, gas, insurances(workmans comp, general liability, health), contributions to retirement, phone, office space, taxes, etc. Business should also earn a profit. Over the years I have found that the labor portion of a receipt usually needs to run between 25-30% for me to maintain a healthy profit. So if you want $30 on the check you should be at $100 an hour. Realize you don't have all of these expenses right now, but if you don't charge for them you will never have more than a hobby.

Most companies understand the costs to doing business and wouldn't be surprised at an hourly charge in this ballpark.

Just information for those who dont know what mountain beaver are.
Dont ignore what wissmiss posted.

http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/MountainBeaver.asp

I wouldn't charge by the hour either. Reason being, once you set your hourly rate, you're kind of stuck. You might find you have to adjust the rate once you really get going in the business.

I have done some regular nuisance beaver trapping and charged by the beaver. That way you can vary the amount you charge per job depending on the difficulty of the job. I've charged as much as $100 a beaver to 0. The 0 being an elderly retired couple who were surviving on their SS benefits. Beaver had suddenly showed up in their yard and began chewing on their smaller trees. They let me use their paddle boat to fish crappies in the spring on their pond for removing the beaver. I did that every year until they were both gone.

PM sent.

Thank you for all the responses... definitely some helpful information. Unfortunately I have to come up with an hourly wage because that is what is required by the forestry company. But I will definitely make it higher than I was originally thinking to make sure it covers all the business costs involved. Thank you so much!

Before you give them a number, you need to know if they are considering you a part time employee or a contractor. I would almost guarantee that you would be considered a contractor and thus get a 1099 at year end and you are responsible for all taxes, SS and all other expenses involved with being an independent contractor. In that case, IMO, $30 per billed hour id way too low. They pay your mileage at some rate but billed hours needs to include travel time as well as any short fall of vehicle expenses.

I did this work about 25 years ago. I worked for a contractor, so I don't know all the particulars of the contract, but I know it was based on per acre charge. It believe at that time he was charging about $18 an acre. The distance to travel was figured in to the bid. I would imagine that price per acre now to be two or three times as much. Hundreds of 110 conibears are gonna be needed. Your wasting your time setting and checking 15 traps.

I worked full time seasonal as a nuisance agent for a company.I retired 6 years ago.
They supply the vehicle,and all equipment.Wages currently for that job now are $32/hr-10hr days-40 hrs week-Time and 1/2 for all hrs over 40.Per diems are $150 per day.
If you have to supply your own vehicle and equipment,adjust accordingly.

Do you have to punch a time clock?

I'm not a ADC trapper, but the ones I know charge per animal plus set up fee and a check fee (each time you check your traps). However, if they insist on an hourly wage $30 per hour isn't enough, by the time you pay self employment tax (15%) plus mileage and wear and tear on you rig, insurance, etc., you'll be lucky to clear $20 an hour.
If they insist on hourly, then set an hourly rate plus mileage.

I will assume that you have no idea how much time it takes to catch one mountain beaver, not to mention enough of them to solve their problem.
First thing I do with these type of problems is to have them tell me how much monetary damage the mountain beavers are causing them. Then all you need to do is come in with a price significantly less than that amount. I like to have a 3 to 1 benefit-to-cost ratio. In other words, for every dollar they spend on you, they save 3 dollars in damage.
Once you get that information, you can select an hourly wage for yourself. I would not go under $25/hour. Mileage should be charged according to operating costs including price of fuel, maintenance, and truck payment. 50 cents/mile is what I use. Then you will need to charge for traps and trapping supplies.
Doing business in this fashion requires gaining the trust from people for whom you work. But then if you just charge by the animal, there is also a trust factor involved.
Once you work up all of these costs, you can plug in how much time will be available to reach the 3 to 1 benefit-to-cost ratio figure.
Example: The guy tells you that they are causing $6,000 in damage. This means that you have $2,000 to work with. Once you have charged that amount, you will either be done, or it is time to set up a new agreement.

This company is very large and they already use a team of trappers as well but there apparently is a lot of activity showing up. I assume I will just be taking care of the smaller units at first until I have proven myself. I was thinking about getting about 100 conibears to start. I am not experience with mountain beaver specifically but have the technical knowledge and have been trapping other rodents for quite some time, so I have no doubt I will be successful at it. I really thank everyone for their input, it really does help. Do you think with this kind of trapping and the large amount of traps I will need that I should just go with what is cheap? I was thinking Duke or Bridger although it seems like Victor and Sleepy Creek are better quality... but twice the price. Also I am curious but do you all buy stakes or make your own? Again I apologize for the newbie questions. Thank you.

Pm sent

In some cases the company may be willing to spring for the traps. Trapping boomers is hard work, lots of hiking up and down in rough terrain. And you need to set 100's of traps and flag them for retrieval. PM Bearguy as he's an expert. But it is basically just finding their runs and dens and setting them up. Pretty simple.

Mountain beavers are far smarter than them flatland beaver.

I'm not familiar with mountain beaver, but I've seen some pretty smart flatland beaver. When their buddies start disappearing, they can wise up pretty fast. Especially if they saw one dead in a castor-based set. They will avoid pinch sets or anything castor after that. Sometimes they get spooked and won't move for days.

Are they any good for bait for fur trapping?

Yes, one and the same. However you would go broke collecting them for sale.(I didn't even know there was an insect market) After handling thousands of Mountain Beaver I saw two of the giant fleas. This may be because the animal had been dead for a while, or maybe they're rare?
More Mountain Beaver factoids: Most NW outdoorsman, foresters, and the general public that is aware of them call them Boomers. They make an unusual sound that some describe as booming. They are very secretive and rarely seen. I know many foresters that have never seen one, after working in the outdoors for decades. I have only seen three.

It is obvious that most folks here are thinking about normal fur trapping methods. When you get into a large Boomer colony it is all about finding runs and setting traps. You don't target individual animals, you try to clear an area of infestation. Either a per acre or hourly rate is the only way to price the job. You should have some idea how long the job will last. Trapping boomers is more like planting tree than it is like fur trapping.

I highly recommend by the hour including.travel and any documentation time..
I charge if special equipment is needed...aka tracked 4x4. It usually saves me time so I loose money, so I'll add 1 hour per day and make it up that way.
Using this plan 22 years been working well.
Good luck
Don