New York State is one of the nation’s top producers of wild furs for the commercial fur trade. New York City remains a center for the production and marketing of fur garments.
Trapping provides important benefits to New Yorkers including: the control of nuisance damage, economic benefits to trappers and people involved in the fur industry, and recreation to trappers.
The 14 species of furbearing animals in New York are abundant and their populations are secure. DEC regulates trapping seasons to ensure the continued security of New York’s furbearer populations.
The agency's assistant administrator, Alexandra Dunn, said in a statement that the EPA had worked with the Agriculture Department “to ensure there are safe and effective tools for farmers and ranchers to protect livestock.”
I think concerns are overblown. Potassium cyanide has a short half-life when it's exposed to oxygen. It's unlikely to be passed from one animal to another. It's been used for nearly a century in one form or another, with a good safety record.
It's a good tool for predator management and healthy ecosystems when foothold traps are not a practical alternative in very remote country, where it's not practical to check a trap line every 24-48 hours. Where used, potassium cyanide trap-lines are checked at least once a week. Dogs and other domestic pets should not be allowed to run off-leash. They do enormous damage to ecosystems.
New Hampshire State Representative Kathyrn Stack has introduced legislation, House Bill 1504, to establish a committee to study a ban on recreational trapping. The committee would be required to begin meeting within 45 days of the enactment of the law and to submit its recommendations to the legislature by Nov. 1, 2020.
Committee members will be made up of two senators and three representatives. The panel will be empowered to seek information from any individual or organization with information relevant to the committee’s objective. Sportsmen and women can expect to see a flood of animal-rights and anti-trapping propaganda if this is enacted. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department was created to study and implement the best wildlife management practices to conserve wildlife and habitat while providing recreational opportunities to New Hampshire sportsmen. It employs the state’s top wildlife biologists who have consistently found that recreational trapping is of public benefit. House Bill 1504 would circumvent this process.
"A super special, never-aired extended MeatEater scene! Steven Rinella and his buddy, Karl Malcolm, set beaver and muskrat traps in Southwestern Wisconsin, but will they catch anything...? "
A Saturday-night delay along the L line in Brooklyn marked the latest in a growing number of subway service disruptions pinned on raccoons, according to internal incident reports obtained by THE CITY.
“The culprit was determined to be a raccoon underneath the train,” @nyctsubway tweeted after the operator of a Canarsie-bound L reported striking an animal near Broadway Junction, activating the train’s emergency brakes.
It was, according to the reports, the 11th time this year a raccoon-subway encounter ended with a service snag.
That’s up from five raccoon-related subway disruptions in 2018. In 2016, there only was a single report of raccoons affecting service, when a train operator said he let go of an N train’s master controller after being startled by three of the critters at the 18th Avenue station in Brooklyn.
Trapping and a strong fur market could help reduce the number of nuisance racoon in New York City.
Some of Jolene Connelly’s best childhood memories involved time spent with her grandmother, who worked at a garment factory that dealt with furs.
“I would sit on the steps in her attic and pore through boxes of fur swatches trying to identify the animals they came from,” said the Selinsgrove (Snyder County) native.
Those moments helped spark her interest in trapping, becoming one of a growing trend of women participating in an activity that is shrouded in negative stigma involving animal welfare.
“I am an animal lover, and I assure you that if I thought that trapping would put any animal under a large amount of stress, I would find it hard to participate,” she said. “Any time you see the number of trappers dwindle, you see more diseased animals with mange, distemper and other issues, along with more human-animal conflict. Trapping is a vital part of our conservation that helps animal populations stay healthy and happy.”
