The only experience I have with foot-snares are the Aldrich-type. Because the throw-spring is necessarily above-ground, I think I'd be hard-pressed to catch many wolves in them. Simply too much scent and visual above-ground. If foot-holds are tuned correctly and are outfitted with drags, injuries are reduced to near-zero. For fur-trapping wolves, I pay attention to the injury factor just as much as with research trapping, as I generally sell to the taxi market, and cuts to feet cost me money.



From 1971 to about 2008, I was an employee of various agencies, some private and some governmental. Since that time, I've been a private contractor for the most part. Most of my life has been spent in the research sector, but sometimes in the wildlife manager role. Always a wildlife biologist, I guess.

Put your 11-yr-old on your computer and have him PM me with questions. I'll gladly take the time to answer! To me, correctly bringing up the next generation of trappers and biologists is vital to maintaining our way of life.

Allen - Good question again, sir. I would opine that the various bears have been the most straightforward. I've culvert-trapped lots of black bears and foot-snared interior grizzlies and coastal brown bears. Not really targeting them, but have also caught a few Himalayan bears (Asiatic black bears). Usually, with bears, it's been a target-rich environment, so the captures came relatively easy. However, if bears have been "introduced" to traps, they get smart real quick, and seem to remember. Similarly, the cats seem to be none-too-bright around traps, but their population densities, for the most part, have been really low, so captures were few and far between. Likewise with wolverines.I spent a couple summers (back in the Pleistocene) trapping badgers for research work, and found that spotllighting and running them down and hand-capturing was more efficient (there's some stories there)...

Jack

Thank you for taking the time to post this and your responses to all the questions.

Thank you Jack for the insightful answers to my questions I agree a book about your life's adventure would be interesting I'd buy a copy .
Of them were there any of them that for what ever reason you had to catch a second time for whatever a collar sending out a faulty signal or that decided to roam out of its normal range .

Hand capturing badgers huh ? Ken must have taught you well on the art of the paper bag methods ha ha
Allan

You're right Allan !! I've seen Jack in the bag more than once.

I have enjoyed listening to some of those stories from Jack , recently

Or were the paper bags only a dispatch tool ?

Well you use the bag as a dispatch tool........of course!! But you have to remove the bottle from it first.

Liquid courage is just one tool in paper bag dispatch........especially on badgers and wolverines

Incredible pictures of your trapping there Jack. Thank you so much for taking the time to share.

Those are incredible photos!! I really appreciate you sharing them! I think about how fortunate I've been to trap several states and vastly different terrain and then realize I've only scratched the surface. Amazing, I hope you share some more.

Such fascinating pictures and life you have Jack! Thank you for taking the time to share a glimpse of your experiences with us and answer everyone's questions. That Amur Leopard is gorgeous. I think it might be unnerving to have a tiger purring next to me.

good post. I will try to make it to your next class here. See you then.

Yes Allan. Recaptures are sometimes necessary for a variety of reasons. Usually, recaps of research animals are attempted after a couple years, as the transmitter batteries often times begin to fail. I've also had recaptures within a week that were inadvertent. Bears and cats are generally straightforward. Wolves, on the other hand, are sometimes problematic.

Jack

Well “ Babe “ it looks as if you haven’t worked a day in your life, and I congratulate you for it . This has been and outstanding post as usual and I thank you for taking the time .

Regards,
Don

Golf ball - "...it looks as if you haven’t worked a day in your life, and I congratulate you for it..." .

You are exactly correct Don. Other than a few meetings that I've been forced to attend, pretty much every day of my life has been fun. Often times I would "play" for 12-14 hours every day for weeks at a time, but it wasn't ever really a "job". I always claimed that I "worked for the resource, not for any agency."

Thanks for sharing Jack, your life has been truly amazing.

Very good stuff
Thank you!

Well Jack isn't it about time to grace us with some more pictures if you would be so kind .

Sorry Allan. It has taken me awhile...




Foot looks swelled up; It's not. This was not the foot that it was snared by. I switch the snare to the other foot to allow better circulation in the trapped foot.

Truly unbelievable life you have led thus far, hopefully you have a book or twenty about your adventures. If so, I'll be looking for them asap. One question, do the big kitties purr when you rub their belly?