So Far This Season... ALL DONE FOR NOW...

And then it rained, and rained, and rained, and is still raining. Needless to say, I got wet this morning. I got out 8 sets yesterday, using in part new type of sets for me. I have never used floats before and decided to give them a try. Two float sets for mink and two for rats.

I used apple, carrots and Dakota Line lure for rats on the floats. This pond is shallow and filled with weeds. It is almost impossible to find the dens, although there are tracks and other evidence of rat and mink activity. For floats... I cobbled up pieces of wood and made them work.





For the mink floats I used barker mounting bracket for my #110's. I used muskrat for bait. Last year I froze 5 or 6 rats, minus tail and feet. Frozen them solid and sawed each rat in either 3 or 4 pieces depending on their length. Each piece was placed into a Ziploc sandwich bag. When I am ready to use them I place them in refrigerator the night before and they are thawed by morning.





We must have this type of bait covered when used in Ohio. So, I tacked the black plastic tray over the bait and ran the anchor stake through the bait, to make it more difficult to get



I also made tile set for mink in a pond overflow ditch, placing a chunk of the bait in the tile with a #110 at each end.



I ended up only catching 3 rats today... all 3 in 2 of the colony traps I set. 2 Large and 1 dink.



I located a couple more holes today and in spite of the rain made a couple of new sets.

I hope this wasn't too long, but long enough and with enough photos to show some of our younger members. Also, for our younger members, both in age and experience, As I said in the beginning of this tirade, some of this is new to me this year... I have caught thousands of rats, and this is my 76th of chasing them. So, keep learning and NEVER think you know it all.

Garry-

May want to try and fill some weeds on top of those floats.....make it like "home sweet ( muskrat) home"

Thank you... I will try that. Like I said, I have never tried them before, and I thought maybe they would help in couple of these ponds I have. I opened up holes in the vegetation around the floats in the one pond so if I catch a rat they can get in water and not stay on top of the weed.

Garry-

Day 2... No rain today, just snow. No accumulation, just an annoyance when it gets on glasses, and you are trying to set #110.

I caught 4 rats today. I got one of those JUMBO rats. I couldn't weigh it, batteries dead in scale. Lying flat on the floor, from tip pf nose to where the tail starts was 16 inches. just for giggles and grins, I slipped on a wire rat stretch and it was to too long for the stretcher. When I was getting a lot of rats, I figured I would get about 3 to 5 of those per hundred I caught.
I caught it in one the #110 at the culvert set for mink (see photo above).

I know this may not be exciting to many of you, catching 4 rats, but when you get to my age and agility, catching about anything is a good day.

I did manage to set 4 more traps today and found a colony trap that I had lost last year, when the water came up and was to muddy to see. For some reason I hadn't placed a stake at the trap, or someone had removed it, being the reason, I lost it.

I won't bore anyone with the details of the new sets, unless I catch something in one of them tomorrow.

Tight chains my friends...

Garry-

Rock on Garry, 4 rats sure beats couch sitting!

Good catchin!

Good job Garry,i'm checking your line with you,keep posting your catches.

Thanks guys... I used to have quite a few people around that either used to trap or still was... but they all have moved away or died. Even those in my family that were trappers are gone. So, I guess I just needed to talk about it when it is happening to others that partake of the enjoyment it brings. I will post as long as some of you understand my obsession and can relate.

See you all tomorrow...

Garry-

We don't have a lot of skrats here, so anyone willing to show how to catch one is a ok with me! Now get after them beaver, that's what I need help with, lol.

Thanks for the pics Garry, going to borrow your design for the float. Keep the pics coming, more than exciting to see!

Keep posting every day! I love following along on others traplines and especially love your attitude. Age and low funds are two of the main reasons trappers hang it up, but not you! I love that!

Trap on Actor, will be following

Today was one of those days... But it was what I anticipated. I caught nothing. I know some may be asking, "What kind of trapper are you? What do you mean you anticipated it?"

Well, let's take a stroll back in time, to the year 1946/1947. When I was first learning the rudiments of trapping. I have always been curious and when I would learn something I wanted to know the What, Why, When, Where and How. I learned the basics of trapping in a creek, in central Ohio. I observed 2 types of holes that muskrats dug and questioned their difference. My Dad pointed out that some were feeds; where they dug from the water up under the bank to get roots for their food. The other was somewhat larger and most often larger and deeper; they were the entrance to their bank den. We had no huts or lodges where I trapped. I observed that some of the dens seem to be higher up than others. This was pointed out that when there was a period of high water coming, they dug their dens higher up on the banks, to compensate for the higher water. Of course, this made me question; how did they know the water was going to be higher? The answer I got was, they just know.

Over the years I observed this occurrence many times and I always questioned. As I got older, I decided I still wanted to know and started to do a little research and found that most trappers understood that the muskrats did this and accepted and didn't bother to question it.

I didn't give up... Over the years I observed nature as whole... this meaning that animals were subject weather changes, which included temperature of the air and water, and the change in both. The one thing that many others didn't want to accept was the barometric pressure as being a major factor. I finally decided that the barometric pressure not only affected what the animal did, but why they did it. The raising barometer, the falling barometer all affects most all animals in one way or another. I am sure it also affects humans more than most are willing to believe.

Animals like a steady barometer. A rising barometer might tell them one thing and falling barometer do another thing. I believe that the air temperature along with a rising or falling barometer tell what is going to happen. I remember as young kid, being on grandpa's farm, sunny hot day, with nice breeze, and grandpa would say, "we got a good storm coming up here in a bit." How could he tell..? The cows had come in from the meadow and all had hunkered down near the barn. Grandpa was always right. We would get a gulley washer before the day was over. This was before television and all of the modern conveniences we have today.

To show you how the barometer can affect animals (and humans) I have posted a barometric chart that begins at 12 noon 11/10/2022 (Thursday) and runs to 11/13/2022 (noon today). I was hoping the chart would show-up larger but guess not.



So... how did I know that the animals would not feed or move about last night? The chart shows what the animals sensed. We had the rain yesterday and the cold temperatures last night and today. We had about a 40 degrees temperature drop over last couple of days... so combining all of the things we can't feel, (but now see predicted on TV) the animals fed Friday night, in preparation for the change. The water only came up about 4 inches in the ponds.

So... today on my check, I wasn't surprised at no catch, but I was disappointed. Now there are instances when you may be trapping in a large marsh or other such area. When you may find under similar circumstances that you will catch a few or just a much smaller quantity. Because animals are somewhat like humans. We get 24 inches of snow, and the state tells you do not go out, unless it is an emergency, there will always be some fools that are going to out, because he can.

This would have been much easier to write if I would have caught 2 rats, but I didn't so this is what you get. Now I hope a few will read it so my time wasn't wasted.

Garry-

Garry, I think that's the coolest post I've read here on Tman. I too am a firm believer in the barometric pressure. I sure as heck feel it in my bones, critters feel it too. I think your Grandpa and most back then were in touch with Nature more than most today. I think it's possible to run a small trap line and yet still be desensitized to Mother Nature if that makes sense. Great stuff, thanks for the read and I bet ya have a catch tomorrow.

Actor, carry on sir!!! I am interested in seeing your pictures and reading your stories!!!!

Good job actor. I feel like this too at times. Only had a couple uncles that trapped and the one I owe my passion and skills at coyote trapping. He was good, always wanted to be like him on the coyote line.
Neither one traps today and haven’t for many years. I will never forget in late 80s when he backed up to my garage with a pickup load of trapping gear and said here you go I’m done. Stretchers, beams, buckets of dry sifted dirt, knives, trowels, hammers, you name it he brought it. No charge. Even had some books for me.
I will never forget that. Never. First coyote I got that season I called him and we talked for about an hour.
We still text em almost daily. He said he likes to get my trapping pics.
But even among my friends around here, not many still lay steel. Prices are in the crapper for coyotes and coon. There is some beaver around but with the drought we just went through I don’t have much water at all on my land access let alone beaver or rats. So I keep hitting coon and coyotes, what my equipment is mostly set up for anyway and what I like to trap anyway.
Going to teach my son how to finish them this year to squeeze another buck or so out of whatever we can sell.
Mostly I just enjoy catching coyotes and coon. My landowners expect me to help manage predators. They like to hunt and fish. I like to fish and trap. It’s a good relationship. Most of these guys I e trapped their land since 1990 and I would hate to stop and lose the access to another trapper. Though these days I really don’t see a lot of other trappers around here, just dog and spotlight guys mostly.
Well, in about three weeks I’ll fire up the line here again. Got everything tuned and ready to go. Garage looks like a hoarder lives here. Jugs of waxed dirt, buckets of old bleached cow bones, milk crates full of sorted traps. You name it. Ready to go get some fresh air and exercise.
Keep us posted on your progress. Hope you have a great season rewarding in many many ways.
Jim

We do not have many here in south central PA any longer But I love trapping rats They are or at least where the bread and butter of many novice trappers And I always was happy to have one in a set .Thanks for the post Very nice pictures

Nothing better than muskrat trapping. Keep it coming!

We use to have rats around here . I used them for fox bait but haven't seen one in years. Love your post keep them coming.

Jim
I had a young guy going to college, that is now a NE State Patrol, give me a whole set of trowels and a whole set of sifters that his uncle made for me, I never had met the guy,(his uncle)when he gave them to me I set them aside,(I was stuck on my own way) now I don't no what I would do without them, it was obvious to me when I did start using them the man that made them was a top notch coon and predator goo roo , I would surelike to thank the fellow that helped a young fellow trapper out.

great post , my dad love to ice fish and he would watch barometer has to when the fish would be biting

When I began trapping as a kid ,muskrats where my main target Once in awhile I might get a con or possum. Mink where scarce .Over about 50 years that has changed by quite a lot .Coon are plentiful .Skunks and possum also can be found everywhere .And I have learned enough some things about mink habits to be able to catch a few nearly every year .Muskrats are less common than ever for me Over the last dozen years or so when I see brown fur in the water I automatically think mink .It is a great surprise to catch a muskrat anymore .I would love to have several locations that I could run a decent muskrat line for 2 or 3 weeks Actor keep posting as that will be my way of running a muskrat line anytime in the near future .

151... Muskrats in our part of the world are being very hard to find. Ohio DNR did a study and found the main cause, as they believe, is toxic heavy metals found in muskrats. I believe that may be part of the problem, but definitely not all of the problem. I wrote and published an article last year (Fur, Fish & Game), stating the reasons I believe is as much or more of a reason than the heavy metals. But that is another completely different can of worms. For years I kept track of when and where I got rats and their sex. For many years my catch was always 3 females to 1 male. Last years I caught 27 rats, 22 males and 5 females. So far this I have caught 8 rats, 2 female and 6 males. You can't have a lot of rats when you have so few females.

Enough of that... I caught 1 rat this morning. It was x-large at a little of 2 pounds. I have never seen so much fat on the rats this early. Usually, they don't get a lot of fat until about 3rd week in December. I think this may be a double long-johns winter. About every night this week it is forecast down in the mid to low 20s.

I hate to tell the owners of the golf course I am trapping, but there aren't nearly as many rats as they think there are in their ponds. I set out a coon trap today. Maybe get one to test to see if they are prime enough to set extra traps.

This time change has me going a little bit crazy... can't get orientated to the change. I was awake at 5:15 AM this morning and no nap.

Keep on keeping on guys and gals...

Garry-

Well... Another miserable rainy, spitting snow pellets, but not much wind and 36 degrees. I only got one (1) rat today. (AGAIN). It was another male good size, probably 2x and 3 right on 3 pounds. He must have been an old dude, because was tough and didn't want to give up his hide without an extra amount tugging. Some of these dudes are sure hard on my old about wore out hands.

I think a couple more days at this location and I will move on to my coon place.

Has anyone that is trapping in Ohio caught any coon yet. I am thinking the coon have holed up for a while. The daytime highs have been in high 30s or low 40s and nights at or just above freezing. The next week is showing 40s during day and mid 20s at night for the next week. The barometer is still on its crazy roller coaster ride.

I hope others a fairing better this old man. Tight chains to you all.

Garry-

Actor You are providing some excellent insight as far as how to go about running a trapline .And by explaining some of your thoughts others can experiment with some new methods and ideas .You mention keeping track of your catch as far as male or female .I started doing that with coon many years ago .And very quickly I realized that about 67% of the coons I caught where males And many of the females where caught in Nov. and Feb. Where I trap in PA most early Nov coon are not completely prime . I try to hold off on trapping for them until the third week of Nov ,Our deer season is the 2 weeks following Thanksgiving So I do not start to really get after them until mid Dec .By then it can be cold .I trapped for years in known denning areas Places where I know there are lots of hollow trees,, rocky .outcroppings wooded areas that have spring seeps etc .And I have had good success catching the large old males coons on some very cold mornings Or if the low temps are in the single numbers for several days and then it warms enough that the lows are now 20 degrees warmer than what it had been . My theory is the males do more traveling than the females .And if the are looking for a mate will sek out denning areas And while traveling will try to find food in those wet spring seeps I doubt that the male to female ratio for coon is 2 out of every three coons born are male .But the male part on the population moves more even on the very cold nights due to the mating season starting to happen in Jan. kEEP POSTING YOUR ADVENTURES , We may not be able to get after them as we did years ago .But the thrill of having some sets to check is still as good a reason as any to get out of bed and see if we caught anything

I woke up with a start in the middle of the night... I dreamed I heard a trap snap and a mink squealing, caught in the trap. Guess what I found when I got out on my line this morning... NOT A DARN THING! It had just been a dream. No rats and no mink.

I walked down the little stream that borders the golf course to check the one live trap I had set for coon yesterday. There certainly were a lot of fresh coon and possum traps tracks along both side of the stream. I could see my trap from a distance, but because of undergrowth between me and the trap I couldn't tell for sure but thought I could see something moving around. The closer I got, all I could see was black. First, I thought it was a melanistic coon, but the closer I got I feared it was a skunk. So, I changed my direction of travel, climbed up out the stream and approached the trap with a large, downed tree between me and the trap. When I looked over the l tree... there it was, a feral cat. I was a bit relieved but also disgusted... I picked up the trap and shook the trap as hard as I could, set back down, rocked it good with my foot, then rolled it over so the door would open. The cat didn't even look where it was going and shot out of the cage and ran smack into the log. I got to laughing so hard, I was about to cry.

This might be of interest to some of you about the place I am presently trapping... notice, I said trapping, not catching much.

Burning Tree Mastodon Excavation Site in Licking County, Ohio, 1989

The Burning Tree Mastodon (Mammut americanum) excavation site at the Burning Tree Golf Course south of Heath in Licking Township, Licking County, Ohio. The Burning Tree Mastodon is one of the most complete specimens of a mastodon found to date. It was discovered on December 12, 1989, during excavation for a pond on the course. Most of the skeleton had been recovered within three days of the initial find in what was probably a peat bog formed from a small kettle lake. Five casts were made from the original specimen skeleton before it was sold to a museum in Japan.



Ironically, the pond that they were digging is there... nice pond, but I have never caught anything from it. It has a couple banks that are high enough, but they don't seem to like it for some reason.
I think the fact it was originally a bog, there may still be a considerable amount of methane gas in the soil.

Tight Chains my friends...

Garry-

Today is another day. Weather about the same... not terrible, but not great, but what you would expect if you want to be a trapper.

I hope some of you enjoyed the info about the Mastodon I included yesterday. I know I did.... I enjoyed it so much I went in the club house today and talked with the manager about the whole story behind it. The guy that found it was digging a pond and was the owner of the property. He wouldn't give the archeologist time to search for any more or anything else... so there may be more or other prehistoric critters there.

I do have a couple more photos I took of the skull and tusks and other bones. Hope you enjoy them.






Oh yes... and the REAL PRIZE




Caught this critter in a #110, in the tile set I had for mink. That is all I got today. Two more days here and will be moving on. I was kind of hoping for a saber-toothed tiger.

Tight chains my friends.

Garry-

Well.... for now, all traps have been pulled and waiting for a warmup... HA! The ponds are starting to make ice and temps supposed to be daytime in low 30s and nighttime in low 20s high teens, for the next 4 or 5 days. All I caught today, was a really small possum in a live trap. Tossed him out and sent him on his way.

I found 2 coon dead about 25 feet apart. check them over good and could find no marks from a weapon or dogs. This leads me to believe, from experience when I was a Game Warden, it is probably distemper. They have been there several days as the fur was beginning to slip. I came into my live trap from a different direction today or wouldn't have found them at all. This may be the reason I didn't catch any coon, which surprised me. I set the live trap between what appeared to be 2 den trees, nice big cavities, one on each side of the stream with a sizable, downed tree across the stream, loaded with coon scat.

Well, it has been fun and maybe I will be able to set a few more traps in a few days. In the meantime...

Tight chains my friends.

Garry-

Thank you Actor! I'm enjoying following your posts as well. I feel your pain as I get older too.

Yep, thanks for taking us along, it's been fun!

It was fun, but think this the last year I will trap out there. I don't consider being overrun with muskrats mean catching nine (9) rats. I will put my skills against anyone when it comes to catching muskrats and they just aren't there.

I hope I made it interesting for those that read my day-to-day update, and the other than trapping info I threw in, that was somewhat educational. I enjoyed the interaction with others on here that I don't normally get in my average daily life. I go for a week at a time not speaking to another living human.... so this was a pleasure.

If the Lord willing, I will try again for some coon and if it goes well or even if don't may run another blow-by-blow account.

Tight chains my friends.

Garry-

Actor One of the reasons I have remained a trapper for almost 60 years is because no matter how much I know about all that is part of trapping the amount I DO NOT KNOW will always exceed the amount I do know There is always more to learn and better ways to do something you have been doing all those years .So it never get boring .And checking traps is always a possible surprise waiting in the next set .I like you post and your ideas about the reasons for your thoughts .I have often wondered what and why I was out in the nasty weather and cold wet conditions trying to catch fur that would barely paid the gas you used to check the iine . But as least for me and many others we where born with the trapping gene in our DNA no amount of reasoning will ever change that .

Thanks Garry...it was a nice ride along.

Thank you Gary. I really enjoyed the thread. Very educational.

Thanks for the ride a along Actor, keep posting.

Garry, it is supposed to be back up into the forties by Monday and fifties by Wednesday. I hope you can get some more sets out in the warmer weather and share your results with us.

Keith

Great post Garry-enjoyed reading.
As we get older we cant run like we used to,but we can still go out get some exercise,set a few traps catch some fur to tan and use,and have a reason to get out and enjoy the outdoors to whatever extent we are able.
Being able to share on a trapping forum like T-man with like minded people makes it even more enjoyable.

Thank you guys... I saw where we might get a couple of warm days. I will try and get a few coon sets made and some live traps set out I have two more golf courses, but neither of them have many if any rats left. I will give them a look-see. I will keep everyone informed as to my progress.

Garry-

I enjoy your posts and the variety from Mastodon to muskrat made it even more interesting. I hope that as I age I can keep trapping a few just like you. Take care and thank you for an enjoyable read

Actor, thank you for the ride along.
Do you have an opinion as to the current high ratio of male rats to female?
If you continue having trouble catching coon, try putting in your best coyote sit.

Thank You Sue... I am to believe it is from chemical of some type. Possibly one or some of the heavy metals in the waters. I know there was a study in Florida on alligators. The problem there, was there were too many females in the one water system of lakes. It turned out that it came from the sewer system and the substance in the water was female hormones that were coming from birth control pills. I am thinking it was estrogen. Like many biological species, including humans, during our first development, while in the first embryo stages we are neither male or female. I don't know what causes the final development of one over the other, but allegedly at this point the hormones in the water was causing them to become female.

Maybe there is Viagra in our water. I don't know, but whatever it is, the embryos are turning into males instead of females. As soon as we figure this out, we can than figure out what caused the universe... since I don't believe in the Big Bang Theory.

I know what you mean about coyote sets... I used to have the same problem with fox sets, back when we had fox. And when you try and catch coon ... well... you catch possums.

Thank everyone for the replies.

Garry-

That’s interesting. Here quail and turkeys are on a decline. I wonder if the ratio of the genders is off in these species. Turkeys are a big deal here and I would be curious to know if the folks studying the problem are considering gender imbalances.

NATURE IN DRAG: MALE GATORS BECOMING FEMALE

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1994-09-03-9409010609-story.html

Here is an article about the gator problem... I was aware of it back in the 1980s, but I guess the study is still going on. there is some interesting info here.

You read around all of the garbage advertisements, but it read quite a way down the page.

Garry-

Actor - very enjoyable walk along!

Very interesting comments about the demise of muskrats. 45 years ago in my part of Ohio, every body of water held muskrats that could be trapped every year. Now, they are difficult to find.

One of my theories is that the ph of the water is too acidic which for some reason muskrats cannot tolerate. On a recent nuisance beaver trapping job, I scouted and set MB750 traps to cover all runs. The traps had an average or more coat of rust. There was no wax over the rust. The traps were in the water for a week. After that week, the rust had turned black and wiped off easily leaving bare shiny metal. Those ponds were ideal muskrat habitat with high banks for secure sound dens, plenty of plants in the water for food, good cover around the ponds, and rare intrusion by people. I saw no sign of muskrats. I did catch one muskrat in a beaver trap. At this location there is zero beaver tolerance. So the beavers were not displacing the muskrats. Have you encountered water which was acidic enough to remove rust?

Good write up to follow
What I found with low rat populations the males travel further in search of love, but with high numbers they darn not get beat up every night
that may explain you high male catch

There is one element in trapping in that sometimes we OTI (over think it)

Actor thanks for fringing back a memory from long ago

Before I moved to Alaska and being born where the sewer meets the sea I spent my years in the 60’s making a part of my living on the ocean. Along with boat, surf fishing I ran a small lobster /crab pot operation. It was there that I became aware of the barometric pressure signals to critters. When I would pull a lobster pot and the lobsters would be clinging to the wire trap and I would have to almost pry them loose it was a sign that within a couple days we would get a south east storm, which would be too rough to fish. It could only be the barometric pressure that gave them the clue to hang on even though they were from over 100 feet of water!

Great thread and keep doing!