John Daniel

John Daniel sloshed through Sugar Creek on Sunday until he found a beaver snagged in one of the three traps he had pinned underwater with sticks.

The animal will be skinned and its fur sold, but Mr. Daniel said the paltry payoff is not the reason this type of hunting is necessary.

“If (beavers) are managed good, they can produce nice habitat for wildlife, but if they are not managed, they can cause a lot of problems,” Mr. Daniel said.

He said beaver dams have flooded area subdivisions and turned farmland into swamp. He said trapping animals also can help curb the spread of diseases like distemper.

At Sugar Creek in Meigs County, Tenn., Mr. Daniel said beavers burrow dens into the banks of state-owned fish ponds and clog spillways with sticks. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency allows him to trap there to protect the ponds used to raise crappie that replenish the stocks in Chickamauga Lake.

Other trappers aren’t interested in fur, but rather in catching critters that bother homeowners.

Keith Haynes is the general manager of Aim Pest Control in Ringgold, Ga., and one of 270 nuisance trappers licensed in Georgia. He said animals can create costly havoc inside a home.

“Squirrels cause fire,” Mr. Haynes said. “I’ve been up in houses before where squirrels have been up there so long they have stripped electrical wires clean, no plastic on them whatsoever.”

Trapping of all types is under heavy scrutiny from animal rights organizations, which have dozens of Web sites that say the wildlife management method is inhumane.

Illegal trapping like incidents reported this month in Tennessee and Georgia also give fur harvesters a black eye, outdoorsmen say.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources seized more than 30 foot-hold traps from a Chatsworth man who also set a human booby trap, conservation ranger Casey Jones said. He said eight traps set in a field weren’t frequently checked and the owner did not have a way to free unwanted animals, such as dogs.

In Dunlap, Tenn., a family walking their golden retriever earlier this month saw their pet die after it stuck its head inside a trap baited with bacon. It was at least the second dog caught by the trap, according to wildlife officers who are seeking the owner of the device.

Trappers were infuriated about initial reports that the dog was decapitated, fearing the description would create public misconception about legal fur harvesting. Wildlife officers now say the dog’s neck was broken, but its head wasn’t cut off.

Mr. Daniel said the person who set the trap in Dunlap is “an outlaw,” and there are humane ways to trap.

The common foot-hold trap used to catch land animals is padded with rubber and swivels to allow animals to move, he said.

Conibear traps, which Mr. Daniel uses to catch beaver, are called “instant-kill” devices because they slam shut much like a mouse trap when an animal triggers them. He said the metal trap has rounded edges to prevent decapitation, and that fur hunters want to preserve pelts for sale.

But the Fur-Bearer Defenders organization calls rubber padded devices “propaganda traps,” claiming on its Web site, www.banlegholdtraps.com, that it does little to soften the slam of steel jaws. The organization also states there are no instant-kill traps and animals can suffer in the devices.

Dr. Elliot Katz, founder of activist group In Defense of Animals, said there have been cases where animals will chew through their legs to free themselves from leg-hold traps. He said it’s more humane to trap the animals in a cage, and quickly kill them if the purpose is to prevent overpopulation or disease.

“I would much rather try to use some kind of live trap ... so you are not smashing the animal’s back or neck or having it try to tear its leg off like with these other kinds of traps,” said Dr. Katz, a veterinarian-turned-activist based in California. “It’s usually a very bloody mess.”

Dr. Katz said there is no legitimate reason to kill animals for fur.

But Mr. Daniel said he harvests fur because he was taught to use everything he takes from the land.

Mr. Daniels said he traps for “love of the life,” and that fur harvesters interested in money “would be better off going to McDonald’s and getting a job.” The recreational trapper said a beaver pelt that 30 years ago would be worth $50 would bring about $8 today.

“I was in Wisconsin in November, and I was out on a lake trapping beaver, and the snow was falling down, and it was like I was the only one out there,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Fewer people these days have that passion for the outdoors, wildlife experts say.

Records show the number of licensed fur trappers in Tennessee has plummeted 95 percent since 1979 when pelt prices were at a peak. Georgia has had increases in commercial trappers, but there are still only 690 in the state, officials said.

Randy Husky, the TWRA’s Hunter Education coordinator, said trapping is “a dying art.”

“If you look at hunting, you see a decline throughout the Southeast and the nation,” he said. “Trapping is way beyond that. It died out a long time ago.”

Chuck Waters, a regional wildlife officer in North Georgia, said changes in society, as much as low fur prices, are the reason for the decline.

“It’s a lot easier to take your kid to the ballfield, throw a soccer ball on the field and sit in a lawn chair and watch them than to teach them to trap and teach them about the outdoors, get them the proper licenses and find a legal place to do it,” he said.

TENNESSEE TRAPPERS

Commercial trappers licensed in Tennessee:

2004: 213

2000: 159

1980: 4,375

1970: 1,133

1960: 2,657

Source: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

GEORGIA TRAPPERS

Commercial trappers licensed in Georgia:

2007: 690

2006: 658

2005: 535

2004: 530

2003: 545

Source: Georgia Department of Natural Resources

TENNESSEE TRAPPING LAWS

* Traps must be marked with owner’s name

* Traps must be checked for animals every 36 hours

* Season is Nov. 6 to Feb. 15 for bobcat, fox, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, spotted skunk, striped skunk and weasel

* Open season for beaver, coyote, groundhog and nutria

* No limit on any animals

Source: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

GEORGIA TRAPPING LAWS

* Season is Dec. 1 to Feb. 29 for most fur bearers

* Open season for beaver and coyote

* Traps must be checked for animals every 24 hours

* Trapper must carry stick to release unwanted animals and a rifle to kill game

* Unlawful to set land trap with a jaw opening larger than 5.75 inches

* Unlawful to sell the fur of any domestic dog or cat

Source: Georgia Department of Natural Resources

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