This is what TRAPPING DOES: No matter the bait No matter the lure No matter the size of the body gripping trap No matter the pan tension for the trap to fire No matter how far from a trail No matter the excuse No matter if legal or not! Trapping inflicts indiscriminate pain and suffering to all creatures, and legally for days, even weeks, year round in Montana, until the trapper decides to return and beat them to death, strangle, drown, shoot, stand on them, turn their dogs loose on them or “release it unharmed”! This trapped magpie was found on our public lands in the beautiful and popular Bitterroot mountains. What else would have been caught? What creature deserves this suffering?
February 3,2016 – Clarenville Another known trapped Bald Eagle. This one relying on a landfill to eat as hunting for food with a trap attached is out of the question. Hopping along the ground to scavenge would also be difficult and is how it perhaps was caught in the leghold trap to begin with. Trapping is indiscriminate. No excuses for this cruel recreation. We hope this Eagle can be caught and saved! Thank you to all who are helping!
February 7,2016 – Near Turah, MT Another, known, Great Horned Owl in Montana caught in a leghold trap. This trap weighed basically as much as the Owl. In Montana, the majority of the “incidental” trapping victims, including Eagles, Owls, Mtn Lions, dogs, etc. have been deemed a result of legal trapping. Why? Because trapping is inherently indiscriminate. As long as the few regulations are followed the pain, suffering, and death of any trapped animal species is therefore excused accordingly. The Great Horned Owl had to have a talon removed. The longer in a trap, the more damage that is done. We have no required trap check time period in Montana other than wolf trap sets are 48 hrs.
October 16,2015 – Juneau, Alaska Judge: Hiker liable for springing traps, but trapper did not prove damages
Judge rules Kathleen Turley does not owe the trapper, John Forrest, any money. He could not prove his losses. Wonder if his income tax returns would have helped?
Judge Thomas Nave wrote, “The court cannot find by clear and convincing evidence the acts committed by Ms. Turley were outrageous, including acts done with malice or bad motives or they evidenced reckless indifference to the interest of another person.”
But, can the same be said of the trapper? Because trapping is legal, doesn’t make it right. When did the trapping of a bald eagle, a protected animal, become legal? Where is its defense and the charges?
Some interesting points from the hearing: Ms. Turly’s attorney asked, “What if a dog was caught in a trap, and there were several other traps in the same vicinity. Would it be illegal for a person to set off the other traps, so once the dog was freed, it wouldn’t get caught in another one?”
Zane Wilson, attorney for Juneau trapper John Forrest, said “they were before the court because Turley was “unapologetic” for setting off traps that they considered unrelated to the eagle, and that she should “learn something from this exercise.”
Photo courtesy: Kathleen Turley of the trapped eagle on Davis Trail in Juneau.
So where is the trapper’s apology, charges, restitution and payment for the bald eagle he trapped that had to be euthanized?
What did the trapper “learn from this exercise”? Forrest’s testimony on the witness stand is quite indicative, “I thought it was a great photograph, and if I hadn’t personally caught the eagle, I’d say…. The GUY KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING. The EAGLE HAD A TRAP ON BOTH FEET.
To try to avoid the trapping of eagle, in Montana, – No trap or snare may be set within 30 feet of an exposed carcass or bait, more than one pound in weight, which is visible from above. However, eagles hop along the valley floor and fall victim to traps and snares.
Photo courtesy: Kathleen Turley of the trapped eagle on Davis Trail in Juneau.
This bait would apparently be legal in Montana, too.
A minimum of 15 reported raptors, including numerous golden eagles, goshawk, bald eagle, and owls, fell victim to traps and snares in Montana from Jan 2013 through Mar 2015. They do not have to be reported if they can be released “unharmed”. This determination generally falls upon the trapper.
Thank you to all that contacted the Governor of Alaska and voiced your objection to trapping and this eagle case and subsequent law suit, in particular.
August 15,2015 – Cody, Wyoming A bald eagle is recovering in Cody after being snagged by an illegal trap in Idaho. The eagle was taken to a raptor recovery center in Jackson. It may survive, but other raptors caught in traps in Wyoming have not.
The two year old doesn’t have her white head and tail yet, but she does have the strength and size of a full-grown bald eagle. She can’t fly, however, because she was injured in a trap set for coyotes.
May 26,2015 – Adams County Petenwell Park near Nekoosa, WI Trapping and the indiscriminate cruelty it inflicts. How do trappers sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror knowing the truths of this horror, they call recreation or ridiculously, science based regulated wildlife management?
March 1,2015 – Fort Belknap, MT Luckily someone found the eagle before it starved to death. The trap cut off circulation to her foot so a toe had to be amputated. Montana Raptor Conservation Center rehabilitated the bird and after a month was released at Headwaters State Park.
The release of a bald eagle after it was caught in a trap in Montana in March 2015. That makes a minimum of 15 raptors, including numerous golden eagles, goshawk, and owls that fell victim to traps and snares in Montana from 2013 through just January 2015. Some never made it onto the Montana FWP records, yet the reports and/or records of treatment exist.
Most of the birds were injured. Some were found dead. Birds of prey, aka raptors, are federally protected under the Migratory Bird act. Most trappings occurred on public land. A couple of trappers received a warning. We are aware of only one trapper being charged. This maybe because most sets were determined legal and catching “incidental” nontargets is exactly part of what trapping does. Wildlife that are incidentally captured in traps in Montana, that can be released uninjured, are not required to be reported. This determination of injury generally falls upon the trapper once they return to check their trap. A rarely publicized exception for reporting is for traps set for wolves. ALL “non-targets’ caught in “wolf sets” must be reported in Montana. We have no required trap check time interval in Montana, other than wolves are permitted to suffer for up to 48 hours stuck in a trap. Experts tell us after 24 hours, injury is a given. An animal alive, running off or flying away does not equate to uninjured. Their future is bleak and fate unknown. To try to prevent raptors from getting trapped, Montana regulations require bait greater than 1lb in weight that is visible from above be set 30 feet from the trap. Clearly, this isn’t working. How many perish, never to be discovered, never reported? Meanwhile, wildlife rehabbers, veterinarians, FWP, you and we pay. However, raptors, like all the targeted and indiscriminate victims of trapping pay the most.
Photography A bald eagle release at Headwaters State Park. Montana Raptor Conservation Center rehabilitated the bird after it was caught in a trap near Fort Belknap March 2015.
Does this reflect freedom for our national emblem and what Montanans would ever want enshrined into our constitution as a right?
It is said the eagle was used as a national emblem because, at one of the first battles of the Revolution (which occurred early in the morning) the noise of the struggle awoke the sleeping eagles on the heights and they flew from their nests and circled about over the heads of the fighting men, all the while giving vent to their raucous cries. “They are shrieking for Freedom,” said the patriots. Thus the eagle, full of the boundless spirit of freedom, living above the valleys, strong and powerful in his might, has become the national emblem.
What would our forefathers think of our continued indiscriminate barbaric yet legal recreation of trapping and the countless eagles that fall victim to it?
Photo courtesy: Raptor Education Group. Eagle yet to be found last spotted Necedah, WI
February 3,2015 – Bitterroot Valley, MT A maimed golden eagle highlights what could be a growing problem with improperly placed animal traps.
On Saturday, members of the Raptor View Research Institute captured an adult golden eagle in the Bitterroot Valley whose left leg was so badly mutilated it will probably need amputation, if the bird survives.
“Clearly its leg had been caught in a leg-hold trap and then it was released by the trapper,” said Raptor View director Rob Domenech. “This isn’t the first time. We captured one last year that had three of its four toes sheared off. And two of our birds with satellite transmitters were trapped – one in Ringling and one in British Columbia.”
March 31,2013 – Glasgow, Mt Senator Wagoner, sponsor of HB 212, that tried to enshrine trapping into our constitution testified vermin and introduced species are the ones that many get trapped. Little does he apparently know. While this is very refreshing a trapper was actually caught and charged it is a rarity. Trappers say they trap for fun and what they like best is never knowing what they will get. Case in point. These “incidental” victims are inherent in the act of trapping and why trappers are not charged despite if it is a protected species, endangered or a family pet. These baited and lured unattended secreted weapons of mass destruction lack the ability and the responsibility to not fire, to not do damage as they are designed to do. Trappers are charged when and if they even get caught and it can be proven they violated one of the few regulations there are regarding trapping. The 1/2 dozen eagles that have been known trapped and some killed in Montana in the last couple of years have resulted in no charges. In addition, regulations do not prevent species from getting trapped. The law requiring bait over 1 lb in weight that is visible from above be set 30 feet from the trap does not stop eagles from getting trapped as they hop along the valley floor to feed with other carrion feeders. Any animal that seeks food, is curious, drinks water, traverses, walks, runs, uses paths, defends territory is at risk of being trapped or snared. As “the cost of doing business” and legally permissible as “accidental”, “incidental” trapping catches in Montana have been animals such as deer, goose, griz, moose, fish, squirrel, black bear, elk, mt lion, magpie, eagle, wolverine, lynx and in the last 2.5 yrs over 104 dogs and countless cats. Snares cost about $2 and are frequented on our public lands and are often left unaccounted for until another animal falls victim. Trappers meanwhile are pushing for the legal snaring of wolves to add another lethal layer with even stronger thicker cable to their arsenal. What other outdoor recreation permits such tolerable irresponsible free for all that the rest of the public and tens of thousands of indiscriminate wildlife pay for?
