Cops, beavers and muskrat traps

After a meeting this morning at work, I hit the highway for the County of Lac St. Anne to check on the beaver traps we'd set two days ago. The weather yesterday was cold with rain and wet snow, so I decided today would be a better day to check. My trip was uneventful until I turned my signal light on to turn right at Horne Beach and looked in my rearview mirror to see red and blue lights flashing behind me. I wasn't speeding because I was slowing down to turn, so I was baffled as to what I'd done to gather this guy's attention. As it turns out, they'd just received a call of a break and enter in the area and the suspect was driving a red Dodge! After a few minutes, it was decided it wasn't me and I was allowed on my way.

First check on the ranch revealed one large beaver in the conibear we'd set on the dam where the water is running over it. This was the only place where there wasn't a layer of ice on the pond; our other two traps, one on the house and one near shore, were both frozen in. The weather is supposed to get warmer right away so knowing this, I reset the trap, refreshed the one on the house and moved the shore trap to another spot on the dam where the water is running over it as well. I then set three muskrat traps on the lower second pond nearest the road where the water was open.

The 330 Conibear is a powerful trap that kills instantly. The stick in front (actually behind) has lure on it.

The above photo is of the new trap location on the beaver dam. You can see the water running over the dam to the left of my trap. If you look at the pond, you can clearly see that it is frozen.

Next up was Wrobel's quarter where we'd set two beaver traps on a location that Dakota had found. The beaver house is far out in deep water that requires a boat to get to, so Dakota figured this would be a perfect spot because of the amount of sign he'd found. Sure enough, he was right on the money. Both traps held beaver.

After hauling the beaver back to my truck 300 yards distant, I walked back, reset the traps and put up two more muskrat traps. It's backbreaking work hauling wet, heavy beaver that far so I was sweating pretty good, even in the heavy, cold wind.

It's about 300 yards down the trail before you hit the water.

Next I headed over to where I'd caught the monster beaver and the four muskrats a few days ago. I wanted to get another beaver trap up there but not in the same place I'd caught the big beaver; that was far too much work hauling the beast through the deadfall. This time, I got a trap set near the house but across from it, opposite the way I went in the first time. I then set about making muskrat Conibear sticks and set three more traps. Where I had caught the muskrats in the culvert using a funnel trap was still out of commission. The water is still flowing too hard through the culvert to place the funnel. All eight of the muskrat traps I put up this trip were with 120 Conibears, baited with a carrot, secured to a stick and then sunk in the mud to the required depth.

My muskrat Conibear stick.

The muskrat Conibear trap set, lured and ready to go.

From there, all I had to check was one more trap near the ranch house. We doubted there were any beaver there but we set the trap anyway to find out. The pond was perfect for beaver and has a house on it but there wasn't any new sign; even the house looked too deep in the water.

I decided to stop at the ranch and let them know about a road that had washed away near a house we were trapping; in fact the first one I visited today. I was talking to the ranch manager's wife about the last trap I was going to check when she told me they'd shot four beaver out of there last fall - wished he'd told me that earlier when he mentioned that particular spot where his fence is under water needed trapping. As suspected, the trap was empty and I pulled it.

Two days ago when we where at this spot, a flock of cormorants were sitting on the beaver house. I tried to get a photo of them but they were too wary and fast. This time I was better prepared for them and managed to get a couple of photos.

Cormorants are considered a pest by anglers.

Cormorants are a fish-eating bird so I'm not sure why they are here, because there certainly isn't any fish in this body of water. They must be nesting somewhere nearby?

I have a little bit of skinning to do now but plan on being back in a couple of days for the next check.

Until then, cheers!