Welcoming 2017 on the trapline

December 31, 2016 - January 2, 2017: My good friend Pierre decided to join me on this New Year's trip. I've spent the last five New Year's on the trapline and was looking forward to this one as much as any other. Pierre has the exact same snowmobile as I do and having driven his only once before, he was looking forward to giving it a go. Pierre has been to the trapline several times over the years but never once during actual trapping operations, so I was hoping I would have a catch to show him. I knew he'd see an ermine catch and still needing three more lynx to reach my quota, I was hoping for at least one lynx catch.

When we arrived at the trapline, it was snowing hard and there was a considerable amount on the ground. We drove down to the wellsite at the start of Cabin Trail but struggled getting there along Smiley Rock Road and even the road to the wellsite was sketchy. Once parked, Pierre suggested that we drive back out and park at the generating station some five miles away. His concern was not having chains for his truck and with it projected to continue to snow over the next two days, getting back up Boulder Hill might become an issue. Several times in the past, I've had to do exactly this because seldom is Boulder Road plowed and with the huge snowdrifts it can get, the risk of being snowed-in is too great. I agreed and back up we went where we unloaded everything into my sled and started the trek back down to the cabin.

You can't see it, but the snow was really coming down here.

After we were unloaded and had the stove fired up in the cabin, we took off to run the lower bowl and Pipeline Trail. I wanted to pull all my traps from Pipeline Trail because so far it wasn't producing and with a lot of future snow projected, trying to stay on your trail there becomes difficult. Pipeline Trail is wide open and when it's windy, the snow drifts over your trail completely concealing it. Often, this means digging yourself out, so Pipeline Trail would be shut down instead.

We finished the top side of Pipeline Trail without issue but on the bottom side the snow was quite deep. I decided that rather than burning gas breaking trail, we'd head back to the road for an easier route. We could access Centre Trail that way and finish out the day's check on Clear Trail. Other than a couple of ermine, our run of the lower bowl and Pipeline Trail was uneventful. I was disappointed that I hadn't caught a lynx in the sets I had out on this end of the trapline and was hoping that South Trail would produce.

The next day was shaping up much like the first with just a few ermine to show for our efforts. When we reached the cubby at the top of Broken Bridge Hill, it too was empty but you could see where a lynx had walked right by it, heading down Broken Bridge Hill. I told Pierre that I had built a cubby half way down the hill and was hoping I could catch him there, as he had walked the hill a couple of times before. When we arrived at the cubby, at first I wasn't sure what had happened. The side wall of the cubby and the front of it were knocked down but I couldn't see anything because of the snow. Then, I recognized the familiar shape of a lynx buried under the snow. I had lynx number three!

An average-sized female lynx uncovered from the snow.

Pierre holding lynx number three. Only two more to go to fill quota.

We stopped at Broken Bridge and had a quick lunch. From there, the trail takes you out over what is now a barren wasteland, a huge cutblock the trail goes through. With high winds because of a lack of trees, I knew we could be faced with some big snowdrifts... and we were. In fact, the first one we came to bogged me completely down. About 30 minutes later, we had shoveled our way out and up a small incline to where the trail was flatter and the snowdrifts smaller. From there, we didn't have any further issues getting stuck but I know that my next trip through could be an adventure, especially if it continues to pile up in snow.

We carried on down the south route checking empty traps and cubbies. I was a little dejected but knew that sooner or later I'd get my lynx quota filled, although I was hoping for sooner. We started up the trail towards the new cubby I'd built in the replanted cutblock with about a 20-year growth in it. This cubby was the last of the day and I'd caught a lynx there a couple of checks prior to this one so I wasn't extremely hopeful. Again, upon arriving at the cubby, I wasn't sure what had happened. There was no disturbance, the bait and lure stick were intact, but my snare was missing. Then I spotted the tied off end of the snare, followed it with my eyes, and then suddenly saw a lynx wedged in between three trees, completely hidden. We had our second lynx of the trip and number four on the season.

You can see how little disturbance there is inside the cubby. The lynx was wedged behind the trees to the right and completely hidden from sight. The snare had done its job very quickly.

Lynx number four on the season.

Back at the cabin, I boiled 20 coyote snares I had built for the Ranch and hung them up to dry. I couldn't dry them outside because it was nearly -20 Celsius and they would simply just freeze up. Once dried though, outside they would go. I'd let them sit to make sure there wasn't any foreign odors on them before putting them to use.

That night, Pierre cooked up a feast of elk steaks, carrots, potatoes, onions and mushrooms that was simply magnificent.

The snares drying above the stove.

Pierre getting ready to put the elk steaks on.

The next morning, we prepared for the five-mile journey back to the trucks. Once there, we loaded up, wished each others well, and headed down. Pierre would head back to Jasper, about the same distance from the trapline as I am in Parkland County, approximately 2-1/2 hours. It had been a rewarding trip with a good friend.

I'll be back in just a few days to hopefully fill my lynx quota. My concern now isn't actually filling the quota; rather, it's exceeding it. If I do, I have to report the extra to Fish and Wildlife and fill out an affidavit swearing I didn't go over on purpose. We'll see what happens. I'm hoping for just one more but the chance of going over is real, which is why quotas aren't held in high esteem by trappers - they are just too hard to hit exactly on the nose. If you go over there is no penalty and generally you are allowed to keep the extra; however, if you do it too often or with too many over, they tend to frown.

Until next time!

Insatiable ermine and cannibalism

December 26-28, 2016: I've written in this space before my admiration for the ermine, or, the short-tailed weasel if you will. These little guys are true carnivores, eating nothing but meat... period! Their main diet is small rodents like mice and voles but they will also kill and eat many animals that are much larger than they are, like hares, grouse and squirrels. The ermine typically kills its prey by biting into the base of their victim's skull. According to the New World Encyclopedia, "There are several recorded instances of ermines "transfixing" rabbits by exhibiting a tumbling routine akin to a dance. The rabbit appears fooled by this activity and fails to recognize the danger as the ermine approaches within striking distance. Once close enough, the rabbit falls easy prey to the ermine." They will also go on killing sprees, killing much more than they can eat at one time but they do cache food. They are also hardy breeders, producing several "kits" each year. They are also superior thieves of a trapper's bait. It amazes me how many times I'm robbed of my bait on the trapline. Often, they are caught by the trap but more often than not, they escape with the bait. They are usually caught when they try to take the bait with them, which sets off the trap trigger, catching them and sometimes the bait as well. On my trapline, they are definitely abundant, as their tracks can be seen almost everywhere. I think my record catch in a single year is 42 with almost 95% being males - not once did I set an actual trap for them.

I managed to take this photo while the little guy was stealing my bait.

On this trip to the trapline, many of my traps had been sprung and many more were simply missing the bait. I managed to catch six of the little buggers, one of which had been partially eaten in the trap by another weasel. They truly do eat only meat, including their own. Below is an assortment of weasel catches from this trip.

The next photo shows the weasel that had been eaten by another one. The weasel simply dined on its fallen comrade.

Lynx are another one of those predators that will dine on their own. Some trappers have a real issue with lynx cannibalism on their lines, making them do trapline checks more often than normal once they get their lynx sets out. I've never had a problem with cannibalism on my line making checks every four days. However, my last visit to the trapline was eight days ago, double what I usually do, as Christmas got in the way this year, setting me back. So it was with dismay that I arrived at a lynx cubby that held nothing but an empty snare and tufts of lynx fur. Some intestine was left behind but for the most part, there was nothing left but some fur. Now, when lynx cannibalize one of their own, I'm told they usually just eat off portions of the hind quarters and seldom more. So, without any clear sign of tracks to determine what consumed my lynx, I'm leaning more to wolves or perhaps even a coyote than I am to another lynx, based on the complete consumption of the animal. Regardless, I'm quite disappointed because I never had another lynx catch on this check.

Here you can see what was left of the lynx. Notice the tufts of lynx fur.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I have a marten set in "dead forest" just because I want something to check on my way through. Last trip, I caught my first marten there and on this trip, much to my surprise, I had a mink in the same spot. Now, what's strange about that is there is no water anywhere near this spot. The nearest water from what I can tell, which would be the headwaters of Windfall Creek, is at least two miles away. This mink is definitely a young one so perhaps it became disoriented? Maybe it was pushed out of an area by another mink and was looking for a new home range? It's hard to say but regardless, I was happy to add it to my catch.

The wandering mink far from water.

Mink are a semi-aquatic predator whose diet is mainly made up of fish and other aquatic life. They are mammals of the Mustelidae family, which also includes the ermine, as well as marten, fisher, wolverine, badger and even otter. Like all predators, mink have an incredible set of teeth on them. They are usually caught along waterways, not in the middle of a forest.

Mink have a big set of chompers!

The last trail I check before reaching Cabin Trail and the comforts of the cabin is a trail my dad and I cleared and subsequently named Clear Trail, about five years ago. This trail has been a good producer over the years including my first marten and first lynx on this trapline. So when I picked up my second marten of the season, I was elated. My marten population has dwindled considerably since the logging company decided to remove more than 500 hectares of my best marten habitat. They are still logging so while they are, I'm going to continue to remove as many marten as I can. The marten I'm catching are young-of-the-year looking for a new home range, of which there isn't any. So removing them is the proper thing to do lest they die of starvation or are killed by other adult marten existing in already established home ranges.

Marten number two, a young-of-the-year male.

I spent the rest of the evening relaxing around the cabin, enjoying the solitude of being in the middle of nowhere. In the morning, I packed up my gear and headed towards the Ranch. I have a few more coyote snares up that needed checking and I wanted to get some more up, provided I had tracks in the new snow that had fallen recently.

When I arrived at the Ranch, the first snare I checked held a nice young female coyote. The young females with white bellies are highly sought after. Canada is the biggest buyer of coyotes in the world, mostly because of the Canada Goose company that makes extreme winter outerwear. Their jackets are lined with down and the hoods on their parkas are trimmed with coyote fur. These coats are expensive but there probably isn't a better winter coat made anywhere else in the world.

A nice young female coyote.

After checking a few empty snares, readjusting others, and adding a few more, I picked up another young female coyote. This particular coyote has a real nice white belly. Considering that good coyotes will be bringing as much as $150.00 this year at auction, I was elated to say the least.

Another nice young female coyote.

I loaded up, found a much needed cold beer in my cooler, downed it, and hit the road. I had a bunch of skinning to take care of.

Until next time!

Things are starting to pick up!

December 16-18, 2016: Once again back at the trapline by myself, I was determined to get a few more lynx sets out, as well as set some snares for the wolves that had traveled through South Trail the previous weekend. I would use an old trapper's trick of trying to get them to veer off the trail and into a wall of snares. You can do this by placing something on the trail that they will try to avoid. This can be anything from a scarecrow to an old smelly glove or even some ribbon. In my case, I would try the ribbon. I tied a bunch of ribbon across the trail between two trees, essentially making a ribbon wall. I then set some snares on the one side of the trail they can actually use to avoid the ribbon. Not sure how it will work, but I'll give it a try. Setting footholds that have to be checked every 48 hours isn't an option when I can only spend three days at a time at the trapline.

The weasels are really starting to pick up again, robbing me blind.

The weasels are starting to take several of my marten boxes out of commission.

On the way down South Trail, part of the trail is what I call dead forest. There just never seems to be any tracks on it aside from weasel tracks. However, I keep an active marten box there just so I have something to check over that one mile stretch before heading up the trail that leads to broken bridge. In five years, I might have caught a dozen weasels there but never anything else. Imagine my surprise when I turned the corner and there in front of me was my first marten of the year.

My first marten of the year.

The above box isn't very high off the ground but it is high enough that anything caught won't actually be on the ground where it can have its fur harvested by mice and/or squirrels. They do this to line their nests and there isn't anything worse than having a marten with patches of its fur harvested, virtually rendering the pelt worthless. In the case of this marten, his feet were only suspended about 8 inches or so from the ground. Not high enough to keep it away from a marauding weasel that decided the pads from the marten's feet would make a good meal. It didn't wreck the pelt by any stretch because we don't sell the feet, but it did make for a little pelt cleaning with Borax. Borax is great stuff for removing blood from fur and every trapper has a box of it sitting by in case it's needed.

The marten's feet that have been eaten on by a weasel.

Carrying on up South Trail, I have to cross through the vast area that's been logged so I can access my best lynx trail. Every time I travel through there, the winds are extremely high because there is no longer any trees to prevent the wind from blowing through. It's beginning to make snowdrifts in certain areas and once the snow really comes - and it will - it will make it more difficult to avoid being stuck on the snowmobile. The loggers certainly haven't done me any favours where my trail is concerned.

I was beginning to become concerned that I would be going home without another lynx. I have about 18 cubbies up now and several trail sets. The trail sets have yet to produce and I've still been getting many lynx walk-by's, which makes a guy curse every time it happens. Finally, in a new cubby that I'd built in a cutblock with about a 20 year growth in it, I picked up my second lynx of the season.

Lynx number 2 from a new cubby.

Back at the cabin, I spent some time skinning out a few weasels and a couple of squirrels before making myself a steak dinner and watching some hockey. The warmth of the cabin is amazing, even when it's -30 Celsius outside.

The cabin temperature is easily controlled, even when it's really cold outside. 

Cabin Trail is named, of course, because it's the trail that leads to the cabin. I have a parking spot for the truck about a mile away. On this trail, I have two marten boxes, one lynx cubby, and a lynx trail set. The lynx cubby has produced a lynx almost every season if in fact not all, except this season so far. On my way out to the truck, I was astonished to see something dark brown lying out in front of the cubby. As I approached, I suddenly realized I had caught a big male fisher in a lynx snare. This particular fisher is the darkest fisher I have ever caught and even bigger than the one previously caught this year.

The big male fisher caught in a lynx cubby.

Until next time!

A quick trip

December 9-10: My plan was to get to the trapline, spend one day running the entire line, spend that night there, and then head to the Ranch in the morning where I was falling extremely far behind. A lack of snow there meant it was impossible to get any coyote snares up because without seeing tracks, where would you put them? Sure there's the odd proven trail but without an established bait station, you're limited. My bait station had yet to be established so up to this point, it was purely a guessing game. But now some snow would allow me to not only use the snowmobile, but to also find some tracks.

I spent a long day running the trapline, again with limited success. The weasels were starting to pick up and I caught several along with a few squirrels. The snowfall had started to pick up as well, making it much easier to get around on the snowmobile. I managed to get a few more lynx cubbies up and a couple of trail sets. I was starting to realize that it might take several cubbies and trail sets to realize my lynx quota, as the handsome cats had plenty to eat - snowshoe hare tracks are at the highest I'd ever seen them. I had several lynx simply just walk by my cubbies without giving them a second glance. Disappointed I might be going home without a cat, I was suddenly surprised when the last cubby of my run produced a nice male.

My first lynx of the season!

Until next time!

Skunked!

December 2-4, 2016: I returned to the trapline in early December after having Paul join me on the previous trip. This time I was alone. One of my objectives was to start hauling out the wood that the logging company had promised me was cut and was just waiting for me to pick up. In all, there were three truckloads that had been cut to exactly 18 inches in length as promised. The guy I had been dealing with told me he had spray painted my name on the pile, hoping this would keep others from taking it... it worked!

Finally, the promised wood pile. Just over three truckloads I took home over three trips.

Using my snowmobile for the first time but still without much snow, I traveled the distance of my trails keeping an eye out for barren spots or areas where rocks were slightly hid underneath, often without success - I'd cringe every time one of my new skis would grind over rock. However, I was grateful to be rid of the quad and now riding much faster and warmer.

Other than the wood, my other objective was to get as many lynx cubbies up as I could. December 1 marks the opening of lynx season so it was time to get to work. I wanted to get at least a dozen or more of them built to start. My lynx quota is five and judging by the amount of lynx tracks I'd been seeing, I expected to fill that quota. The weather was in the minus teens but when you're trapping, you never really seem to get cold because of working in between stops, especially when building lynx cubbies.

A photo of the sun on distant hills just before the entrance to Clear Trail.

I wasn't having much success with my marten boxes nor my mink sets. Even the weasels appeared to have slowed from previous seasons - I had only picked up a couple along the way. My trip was starting to look pretty bleak in the fur department.

Even the weasels were starting slow.

The way my trapline route runs, the last trap to check is under a bridge on Grizzly Road before you take Cabin Trail back to the cabin. The trap under the bridge is a mink set that has been successful in the past for not only mink, but also, of course, for weasels. A weasel was the last thing I wanted to find here though because I had no fur of any size to show for my trip. I was hoping for a mink or perhaps even another fisher.

Much to my surprise, my last trap held a skunk! Who would have thought there would be a skunk running around on this high-altitude trapline; certainly, not me! This trap is at about 3800 feet.

I figured I was going to be skunked on this trip and at the end of the day... I was!

The high-altitude skunk caught in a set for mink.

Until next time!