Fur is shipped and two more lynx

January 8, 2014: I made my way out to Westlock mid-week to drop my furs off at the Alberta Trappers' Association fur depot. With North American Fur Auctions getting ready for their first auction of the year, it was imperative I get my furs shipped, as this is generally the best auction of the year. However, it is expected prices will come down a bit this year, as the Chinese government imposed a tarif on imported furs on the premise that manufacturers would then buy Chinese farmed fox and mink instead.

AJ getting my furs ready to be shipped.

Here you can see the tags used to register my lynx and fisher. Lynx, fisher, wolverine, and river otter
are quota species so they have to be registered before they can be sold.

Marten don't have to be registered but each one is tagged with a bar code indicating the owner.

January 10-12, 2014: With Dakota unable to accompany this trip because of school commitments, I thought I would be going alone until good friend Ken Colwill decided to join me. Ken recently bought a new snowmobile, so he was eager to try it out in the deep snow on the trapline. Ken wouldn't be able to arrive until later in the evening, so I was on my own to run the lower bowl on Friday. Saturday we would run the south end of the trapline, the bait station and the single lynx cubby I have on the high side of Pipeline Trail.

Of course, my first catch was an ermine, number 37 on the year. What was astonishing about this catch was that it was caught in a 220 Conibear at the Gulo Pen. He was trying to get a piece of bait through the trap when it fired, catching him. Surprisingly, with such a large trap, there was no damage to the ermine's fur.

Never thought I'd see the day an ermine would be caught in a 220 Conibear.

By the end of January, many furbearer populations will be at their population low. This is because of a variety of reasons but one of the main ones is starvation. Food sources are dwindling and will continue to do so until spring replenishes the furbearer population with a new source of food, the newborn of the prey species. Predators and their prey will once again flourish, as they do every year in Mother Nature's give and take world.

And with this comes the winding down of the winter trapping season for most of the furbearers. Lynx season ends on January 31, so with this in mind, and still needing three more lynx for my quota, I turned up Unnamed Trail with high hopes. We have two cubbies on this trail, including one walk-through cubby on the edge of an old wellsite where, for two years in a row, we've witnessed lynx tracks prowling the outside edge of the open area. Upon my arrival, I gave a hoot and a hollar as a big tom lay beside the cubby. Unnamed Trail has now produced a lynx and a fisher, as well as numerous ermine this year.

The big tom at the walk-through cubby.

The reclaimed wellsite at the end of Unnamed Trail.

Our squirrel population doesn't seem to be at a high like it was last year. We've only caught two all season in our marten boxes, which is surprising. Because of this, we only put up snares on one squirrel midden on Clear Trail this year. We set them last weekend and on this day, I picked up a single squirrel, a big male with a gorgeous tail.

Our first snared squirrel of the year.

I returned to the cabin with plenty of time before Ken would arrive at the compressor station. After warming up the cabin and putting away my gear, I jumped on my snowmobile and ran up to the compressor station with the sled behind me. Ken would need the sled to help bring in his gear. Our plan was to meet there at 5:30 and we were almost perfect in our timing. Ken arrived about 10 minutes prior to me getting there, so neither of us had to wait for the other. After a hearty supper, we spent the night telling stories in the warmth of the cabin while enjoying a few cold ones.

Early the next morning, we awoke to the sounds of something in the shed attached to the back of the cabin. This is where I store our bait and part of that bait is a beaver carcass hanging from the rafters. I grabbed my flashlight and went for a look. As soon as I entered the door, I saw a white flash to my right. As I suspected, an ermine was trying to get at the beaver. Ken quickly joined me and we were soon watching the little bait thief dip and dart around the shed in the light of the flashlight. Not wanting him to somehow get into the cabin while we slept, I set a trap for him.  

It had snowed a couple of inches overnight but snow conditions are perfect right now, so my trails have no issues and traveling the trapline is much easier than it has been on numerous occasions. We ran the south end with little success until we hit Old Forest Trail where we picked up another lynx. Last year when Ken came up to run the trapline with me, we caught two lynx. This was lynx number two of this trip with Ken here and ironically, this one was caught in the same cubby where Ken had witnessed one caught last year.

The second lynx Ken has seen caught at this cubby.

Saturday night after supper, we jumped on our snowmobiles and went for a ride east up to the end of Grizzly Road. From there we whipped down to Smiley Rock Road and then did the loop around Boulder Road back up to Grizzly Road and then to the cabin. It was a good ride and I spent some of it on Ken's new machine, a nice one that has a lot of jam. With two-inch paddles, Ken had little problem churning up the snow, even off my trails. I could have used his machine earlier in the year when I was having so many problems with deep snow.

Back at the cabin, I discovered the trap I had set for the ermine had been sprung but no ermine was in the trap. He must have somehow missed being caught and had now vacated the area, at least for awhile. I reset the trap in case he came back.

Ken poses with the two toms, lynx number three and four of the year.

Sunday morning before we left for home, we ran the south end of the trapline again but all of my traps were empty. I'm not a fan of running the line so soon after refreshing the sets, but it was a good way to start the day anyway. When we returned to the cabin, we noticed fresh mink tracks leading right towards Dakota's mink box. But much like the ermine in the shed, this was one lucky mustelid. Somehow he'd managed to set off the trap without being caught. It must have scared him though, because all of Dakota's bait was still in the box. I reset the trap, maybe he'll be back.

After cleaning up in the cabin and loading our gear, we jumped on our snowmobiles and headed towards Boulder Road and home. An excellent trip and an excellent time!

Even after all the melting, there is still a lot of snow.

Until next time!

Our catch from the trapline so far this year:
4   Beaver
10 Marten
37 Ermine
3   Squirrels
1   Mink
1   Fisher
4   Lynx