A moose, a marten, a beaver and a mouse

To get to the trapline, from my door, takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending on road conditions. About 1 1/2 hours of this time is highway travel, the rest is gravel road. Early on, the gravel road meanders through some mixed farmland. In this area, Dakota and I spotted a calf moose cross the road in front of us about 100 yards up. The calf jumped the fence on our side and now mother was about to cross the road and do the same. I managed to get stopped while Dakota got my camera ready. Our timing was perfect, as I managed to get a photo of the cow moose going over the fence.

The big cow made short work of the fence.

On the way to her calf.

The weather has been good for the last little while and this weekend would be no different. With highs of 24 Celsius, the roads had dried out considerably. However, I decided to avoid Smiley Rock Road again as it could still use some drying out. Once we were on Grizzly Road near Unnamed Trail, we noticed something lying on the road ahead of us. As we got closer, it became apparent what it was - a young marten, dead in the middle of the road. Upon closer inspection, we realized it hadn't been run over by a vehicle but had met its demise in some other fashion. Its front shoulder had been ripped open and a bone was protruding from the wound. Had a coyote or some other type of carnivore caught and killed the young marten? If so, why was it left in the middle of the road? Could an owl have captured the marten and then perhaps dropped it to its death after a battle in the sky? A marten would be a handful methinks. At any rate, it was a shame to see this young marten wasted.

A shame and a wasted resource.

It doesn't appear as though the young marten was run over, even though there is a tire track right there.
The marten doesn't seem to have injuries that fit being run over, plus this road sees very little traffic.

Once we arrived at the parking spot, we unloaded the quads and then loaded them up for the trip to the cabin. We'd hauled up all the wood for a new deck. The old one is in poor shape and needs replacing. At the cabin, we unloaded and then hooked up the quad trailer and headed back to the truck to get the deck wood. The deck is only 14' x 8', so not a lot of wood.

From the truck to the quad trailer.

And stacked beside the cabin.

Saturday was a trail maintenance day. We started off by heading east on Grizzly Road to a place I know of with lots of small lodgepole pine. There's a section on Cabin Trail that's just too soft and has been for too long now. It's been causing issues getting in and out of the cabin, like needing to winch. Instead of just throwing logs down in the obvious places, I wanted to thatch the trail for the required distance, about 30 feet. It took two trailer loads of 3- to 4-inch lodgepole pine, each about 7-feet long, to thatch the trail. I'm happy with the result. It took longer than I figured it would but given the heat - about 26 Celsius - I wasn't surprised.
 

A load of lodgepole pine headed to Cabin Trail.

The first part isn't too bad and will be okay; it's where the thatching starts that the trail gets bad.

I'm guessing about 30 feet of thatching, but I never measured it.

On Friday night, we had discovered a mouse hanging around the yard; much like the squirrel last time in. However, this mouse didn't look healthy and didn't appear to be too concerned about our presence. He'd run away, but always just a short distance and then you could walk right up to him again. Dakota wanted me to take a picture but for one reason or another I didn't. I should have, because then I'd have a before and after. Yep, after. One of us accidentally stepped on him on Saturday. Dakota figures it was me, but I don't remember feeling him under my foot.
 

The sickly mouse. Probably better off this way.

That night after a supper of grilled ribs over an open fire, Dakota wandered down to the beaver dam and broke it open. Later, just before dark, the kit came back to investigate; I managed to get a photo.

The kit, getting bigger and primer.

Sunday we worked around the cabin a bit, lazed around and then loaded up to head out. A productive trip, as we'd managed some trail maintenance, put up some firewood for the outside fire, hauled in wood for a new deck, and managed to GPS some new waypoints on the east side of the trapline. All in the beauty of the boreal foothills.

All three pieces of equipment saw duty this weekend.

 Until next time!

Two trips in one

Dakota and I hit the trapline a few weeks ago but I never got the chance to update the blog, so I'm going to combine that trip with the trip I just took by myself this weekend.

When Dakota and I arrived at the turn to Smiley Rock Road, I wasn't sure if we should take it or not, based on the trouble we'd had last time. Never to be a coward, I decided to take it anyway. As it turns out, I probably shouldn't have because we nearly got stuck and really struggled in what is still a very soft road. We were lucky we didn't get stuck because there is no tree close enough to pull yourself out with. You'd have to dig a hole and bury a log to give yourself something to anchor to. Too much work for my liking.

Once we were at the cabin, we unloaded and got a fire going. It had rained a little bit and then the sun came out and gave us a really nice rainbow.

Just over the trees straight south of the cabin.

Our plan was to work around the cabin, cut the grass, split some wood and generally just hang out before supper. It was overcast and cool when we arrived and it felt damp in the cabin so I started a fire to take the chill off. Cutting the grass was next up.

The grass needs cutting again.

Dakota found the stilts left behind by a previous trapper and decided he was going to master them. Walking on stilts is fun, especially when you can walk with them for a distance. With the uneven ground around the yardsite, stilts can be challenging.

Tall grass doesn't help matters much either.

Saturday morning we fired up the quads and headed to Broken Bridge Trail. I wanted to make sure the bridge was still in one piece. The bridge at South Trail also needed checking and I wanted to check as many marten boxes as I could. If the porcupines were busy chewing on the boxes, I wanted to know which ones and how bad. Near the turn off to South Trail, we came across a young whitetail buck who had an incredibly long tail.
 

His tail has got to be two-feet long!

The bridge at South Trail was still standing, although I still need to come up with a better system there. If the water gets too high and too fast, the bridge will be washed away again. This particular bridge is just logs placed side by side the width of the creek, nothing fancy. The bridge at Broken Bridge Trail was also still standing. This is the bridge we'd built by milling our own planks with the Alaskan Sawmill. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had a better plan for those planks and she floated them downstream about thirty yards. This bridge is still in the same shape it was when Dad and I put it back in place, albeit in a makeshift manner, at the start of last trapping season.

Broken Bridge - still in working order.

We checked several marten boxes and discovered only one had faced the wrath of a porcupine. The boxes can take a certain amount of chewing but when the porcupine starts chewing on the slots that hold the Conibear springs too much, the box needs repairing. The porcupines like the glue in the plywood. About a third of the way back, we came across several ruffed grouse chicks that flew into the trees around us.

Young of the year ruffed grouse.

Last winter, late January I think, Dakota took the orange pail and scooping pot and headed to the creek to get some water for dishes. He returned with about an inch of water in the pail and no scooping pot. Dakota had slipped on the ice and lost the pot through the ice-hole and into the current of the creek. The pot was gone. On this trip, when we returned to camp from checking Broken Bridge Trail and South Trail, we were relaxing around the firepit when Dakota suddenly exclaimed, "The Pot!" Not quite sure what the heck he was talking about, he pointed out the scooping pot across the creek but still under water. We have our pot back, well, not quite yet. As soon as the water in the creek goes down a bit, we'll be able to get it back.

The lost pot found again.

Good friend Ken, who has been to the trapline twice now but has yet too see it without four feet of snow on it, gave me a bunch of steel grating that I hauled up to patch a few sinkholes on Cabin Trail with. It had obviously been raining a lot prior to this trip by myself because Boulder and Grizzly roads were both in poor shape and the creek is running high and fast, much more so than when Dakota and I were here last. The road down to Cabin Trail is a mess in places and Cabin Trail is starting to show some wear as well. Hauling in my stuff required the winch to get me out of a sinkhole but I arrived to the cabin just as we'd left it. My plan was to build a shelf for the living room window Friday night, while Saturday would be dedicated to sinkhole repairs and cleaning out the shed. I had the shelf cut to measurement and in place in about an hour. Plenty of time before supper.

The new window shelf.

 There must be something about rainbows this year because I don't think I've ever seen so many. After supper, a rainstorm came in for a couple of minutes and then it left, leaving behind this rainbow.

Just like living in paradise.

Saturday morning, I hooked on the quad trailer and made the trek back to the truck to get two grates. I would leave two at the truck for future use and install two on Cabin Trail. In both places, I still have a bunch of thatching to do but the grates have offered some relief for now.

Still some work to be done but the grate removes a deep hole that was real hard to get out of.

Once I was finished with the grates, I went to work sorting out the shed. Amazing how stuff gets out of order during trapline operations. Once traps are set, it's full-go time and keeping a clean shed doesn't seem possible. I hauled everything out, added a bunch of nails for hooks on the walls and then put everything back in. Maybe I can keep it this way throughout the winter trapping season... I doubt it though. I had a young squirrel take a big interest in what I was doing. He watched me while he ate cones in the grass.

This squirrel kept an eye on me the entire time I cleaned out the shed.

Lots of room in the shed now.

Nice big t-bone for supper.

Sunday morning, I took a run up Clear Trail expecting to have some fallen trees or grown-up willows to take care of. Short of a couple soggy spots, Clear Trail is in great shape and sporting some good raspberries as well. I think I'll leave it alone now until it's time to set some traps. On the way out, I stopped at a spot on Boulder Road where Dad and I trapped a mink and a ermine last winter. I wanted to check on the marten box that was there and make sure it was still okay, it was. On the way back up to the truck, I stopped and took a photo of the creek. Now, wouldn't you just think there would have to be some grayling in there? One of these days I'm going to find the time to try fishing here.

Looks inviting for a fly rod.

Until next time!

Spring Cleaning

With lousy weather in the forecast, I delayed my trip back to the trapline by a day. Instead of leaving Thursday after work, I left Saturday morning and came back on Monday. The weather wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be; in fact, it seldom rained and when it did, it was nothing more than a light sprinkle. The quad trail ruts we had created last spring from the parking spot to Cabin Trail were as plain as day and just as bad as I remembered them. Even Cabin Trail has a couple of holes that have gotten deeper, but I never had to winch to get in or out.

Boulder Road is as rough as ever and once down Boulder Hill the roads were in rough, muddy shape. I took Smiley Rock Road in and nearly regretted it; it was too soft and I really struggled to get to the top of the hill. It's going to have to dry out a bit before it can be used again. I did spot a young cow moose just fresh out of her winter coat in the trees on Boulder Road.

A young cow moose still working her way out of a winter coat.

At the cabin the grass was about a foot high. Everything remained as I'd left it three months earlier. Even the inside of the cabin was clean and without flies. I flipped the calendar from February to June, unloaded my stuff and fired up the weedeater. Within an hour I had the semblance of a yard carved out. I also cut around the moose boneyard and put it back into shape. I went a little larger this year and even cut around the chives and rhubarb that grows there. Dakota likes the rhubarb, I like the chives. Raking was a pain but necessary. Short grass equals fewer mice.

The new "bigger" yardsite. You can see Dakota's rhubarb close to the right.

The moose boneyard out from under the grass.

A look at the yardsite from the back of the cabin.

You can see the chives are growing well.

Chives are great to cook with or spread over your meal.

Dakota's rhubarb.

Once the yard work was done, I walked to the beaver dam where Dakota and I had battled last year with the beaver (over the dam) beside the cabin. I knew the big female beaver would still be there; sure enough, the dam was freshly tended to. I took my hoe and went back to work taking it down. I'm not sure what to do here. I don't want to kill her before she's prime but I'm not sure I want another summer of a losing battle with the beaver over her dam. On my way back to the cabin, I heard a noise to my left and sure enough, there she was chewing on some willow in the grass just a few feet off the yardsite. I quickly grabbed my camera and managed a good shot of her gnawing on the willows.

The big female beaver chewing willows not more than 15-feet from the yard.

The next morning, after a bacon and egg breakfast, I grabbed my hoe and went back to the dam. Sure enough, it was back in working order. Once again, I took it down knowing full well I'd be doing it again Monday morning before I left.

Back at the cabin, I started my spring cleaning chores, removing everything from the shelves and hitting everything hard with the Swiffer Duster, including every log within the cabin. I put up a new shelf above the main window and took roof measurements for when I put on the new shingles, or metal, I'm undecided yet. I also drew out the plans for a new outhouse, deck and a new stand for under the main window. With that done and early evening approaching, I grabbed my camera and a beer and then headed for the beaver dam. I figured I should be able to get some photos of the big female in action. Much to my surprise, what I thought would be only one beaver left in the house, was now suddenly two. She had a yearling kit with her. Obviously Dakota and I had missed one last fall. I thought it strange then that we'd only removed one kit, usually there are two or more. Somehow we'd missed this one. I did get some decent photos.

The year-old kit we missed last fall.

The big female on her way to start plugging up the dam.

You could throw rocks at her from the cabin, she's that close.

My favourite photo of the female.

The next morning, I awoke to the pitter patter of rain on the cabin roof. It wasn't raining hard but enough to make noise on the cabin roof. By the time I had my breakfast finished, the rain had stopped. With one last thing to do before heading home, I grabbed my hoe and headed back to the beaver dam...

Until next time.

Finished for the spring season

May 6, 2013:

With the temperature reaching +30 Celsius, it was time to make a decision. Weather like this turns trapping into a chore. Your catch can also deteriorate quickly in the hot sun; at least those that are caught only partially in the water. So I decided to head out and declare the spring season over.

I was hoping for empty beaver traps but I wanted a few more muskrats. My first check was on the pond where I'd placed two funnel traps in rat runs. I knew one was a run for sure because I'd already caught two rats there. The other, under a big old black poplar root on a sharp bank of the pond, I wasn't sure about. The first funnel trap again produced two more rats. I made my way to the funnel trap under the poplar root and began to pull on the wire that was attached to the trap and tied off on shore. For some reason, it wasn't coming up. I must have spent five minutes trying to free it. Then it suddenly released and up it came with three rats inside of it. A quick check of the Conibear sticks and I had six rats in total.

Three rats in one funnel and two in the other.

On the next property, I discovered an empty beaver trap and three Conibear sticks well above the water. The water had come down a good four inches, leaving a good inch of clear space between my trap and the water. Each trap was missing the carrot that I'd skewered onto the trigger. Now, considering it takes very little to trigger one of these traps, where did the carrots go? The only way they could have come off the trigger would be with enough force to fire the trap. One of those mysteries never to be solved I guess.

One of three carrot-less Conibear sticks above the water level.

  Thankfully, my last check, the 300-yard walk, didn't have any beaver in the traps. I was wincing all the way down there hoping there wasn't another monster beaver caught that would have to be hauled back to the truck in the sweltering heat. I'd taken four from here already, but I knew the big female was still around, as I'd taken three smaller beavers and the big male. Of my two Conibear sticks, only one held a muskrat, giving me a total of seven for the day and 21 for the spring season.

Back at home, my garage had been turned into a skinning shack. I'd skinned five beavers and had one in the freezer. The heat had forced my hand and I had to freeze it before it wasted. Not that I couldn't use it if it had, beaver, as a main bait, is always on a trapper's list. I also had 14 muskrats skinned and now another seven that would have to go on ice to be skinned the next day.

The spring season catch, less one freezer beaver.

Now it's time to hit the yard work, start getting things ready for the lake and fishing season. I' also have to make some time to get back up to the trapline and make sure everything is still in order at the cabin. Some bridges need tending to, wood has to be cut, I want to build a new outhouse... the list goes on.

Until next time!

Wood frogs, rats, and another beast

May 4, 2013:

"Look at all the frogs," Dakota said, motioning towards the pond we were about to check. Sure enough, the frogs were out in full force, and not just in body but in voice as well. The pond was alive with the croaking of frogs. We were at the first pond on the ranch where we had two funnel traps set, as well as three Conibear sticks and one beaver trap, which I knew would be empty. But first things first; I had to get some frog photos.

The wood frog is found throughout the aspen parkland and the boreal forest.

In the spring, adults congregate at breeding ponds and begin calling.

Next up was trap checking time. Of our three Conibear sticks, two were empty but one held a nice male muskrat. The first funnel trap we pulled revealed two more muskrats, the second was empty, so I had obviously mistaken what I thought was a run. We replaced all three Conibear sticks and put the funnel trap that was working back into place. The second funnel trap now needed to be set in another location. In short order, we found another run and had it set up again. We then worked our way around the dam and took down the last beaver trap on this pond.

Dakota with our catch from the first pond.

We rolled up to where the trap-shy beaver resides and were happy to see that two of our three Conibear sticks had connected. The trap we left hoping for a vagrant beaver was empty, as I suspected it would be. I carefully examined each of the muskrats, looking for signs of battle. When muskrats start breeding they fight like savages, ripping holes in each other like you couldn't imagine. When the fighting gets too intense, it's time to pull your traps because the rats will be too chewed up and not worth anything. These rats still looked fine though. We reset each of our Conibear sticks, refreshed the beaver set and then found a spot that looked like the muskrats might use to travel through the culvert. We set another funnel trap there, hoping for the best.

At our next location, we stopped the truck, grabbed our gear and began the long walk down to the pond. The weather was warm, too warm for trapping, especially when it's a long walk back to the truck. I was hoping that if we had a beaver in one of the two traps we had set there that it would be a small one. Lugging a beaver back to the truck in this heat wouldn't be fun, especially a big one. As luck would have it, we had a beaver in the first trap, unfortunately, it was another beast of a 50-pound beaver. The walk to the truck suddenly got a little longer.

Dakota with the monster beaver to his right.

The other beaver trap was empty but we caught another muskrat in one of the two Conibear sticks we had set. We reset both Conibear sticks and then reset the two beaver traps. It had been a successful check - six rats and a monster beaver. We now had 6 beaver and 14 muskrats for our shortened spring season. A few more spring rats wouldn't hurt though, as they're still in good condition. The beaver are still in good shape too but we have enough beaver meat for the winter trapping season now so if the traps are empty next check, we'll be fine. We set out to reduce the beaver population on this property and we did. With temperatures starting to reach the mid to high 20's, we will probably pull everything down tomorrow night.

Dakota with our catch for the day - 1 beaver and 6 rats.

Until next time!