Well it looks like all the “bull” is behind us now and the trapping season is coming to a close.  We saw our first sign of slippage last night, as one of the rats we put up dropped a little of the guard hair as it was being combed.  Things like that will only continue to get worse as time goes by.  So the trapping is almost over.  There is still a lot that has to be done before shipping the furs off, but the trips out West will subside soon.

So, here is the plan as discussed last night in the skinning shed:

I’ll pull the West line of Big Spring today (Thursday) and retain the 44 trap line I set yesterday until this Saturday, when I’ll pull all those traps.  We will begin pulling sacks of frozen rats out of the freezer on Monday and put those rats up one sack at a time until they are all on stretchers.  The timing of pulling the sacks out of the freezer will be determined by the amount of dried rats we have on stretchers that can be pulled down to make room for the number in the sack.  In the meantime, traps will be inspected and repaired as needed for next season.  I have taken on the task of fixing all the live traps myself, as the racoons really tore them up.  One even bent the trigger extension rod that holds the door open.  They are tough little critters.

What do I expect from todays trap check?

The West line kicked out a surprising two rats yesterday, but will produce a big fat zero today.  The new line of 44 traps should produce 50%, but I will not go out on a limb and say 20, I made a beer bet with Bob last night for 13 so I’ll stick with that.  13 rats for me today!

Bears Butt

March 13, 2014

P.M. REPORT

What a beautiful Spring day outside!  Wonderful!

I managed to pull the West line of Big Spring this morning and had a two rat surprise!  YEAAA!  And then on to the East line to see what good fortune awaited.  I ended up catching 14 more up there for a total of 16 rats!  Another YEAAAA!

Back home Bob had laid out the 6 rats he caught and so we had a 22 rat day!  A very good ending hurrah to a fine trapping season and even though we won’t be pulling our traps completely out until Saturday we won’t see this many rats again in a one day total!

Weasel is going to put two live traps down in the field to see if he can snag the two raccoons that have been hanging around his snares…can he catch them by Saturday?

Bears Butt