Sometimes politics get in the way of trapping and wildlife management. It’s just a reality that trappers in some states have to deal with, and such was the case with marten and fisher trapping in northern Maine. After a long battle in the courts over incidental trapping of ‘Endangered’ Canada lynx, Maine trappers were required to use newly approved - and specifically designed … [Read more...]
Lessons Learned from Failure on the Marten Trapline
Over the years, I've learned never to take things for granted in trapping. Things don't always go as planned, and we trappers do make mistakes. I try to take away a valuable lesson from each failed experiment on the 'line, but for some reason, it's taken me much longer to learn from my marten trapping mistakes. I'm still not sure what the lesson is, but I guess it'll get … [Read more...]
Improving Marten Habitat With Nest Boxes
The recovery success story of the wood duck in North America hinged on agencies and volunteers putting up countless nesting boxes to fill a crucial habitat need that was keeping duck densities lower than they could have otherwise been. It worked amazingly well for ducks. Could something similar work for the American marten - a popular furbearer whose numbers have declined in … [Read more...]