Letter: In defense of trapping
This letter is in response to Catherine Miller's misunderstanding of trapping (Public Forum, Oct. 23). She stated that prior to coming to Minnesota, when she lived in Wisconsin she observed a lot of trapping activity on her daily walks during winter. During these walks she saw things that, if true, should have been reported to the Wisconsin DNR.
I do not know the Wisconsin trapping laws, but Minnesota has had trapping laws for many years to help protect the animals. With the help of the Minnesota Trappers Association we also have mandatory trapper's education classes for anyone who would like to learn how to trap. This class will teach the new trapper things like proper trap size and proper location as to where to set traps.
With proper traps any animal can be caught, put to death, or released back into the wild without any long-term effect to that animal. A lot of valuable wildlife information has been collected on some species of animals with the use of foot snares and steel traps. Timber wolves are trapped yearly, radio-collared, and released back into the wild unharmed.
It is hard to explain the fun and joy of trapping to someone that doesn't understand the sport and doesn't have an open mind.