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!