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.
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.”
For many in the hunting/conservation worlds, the announcement of Arkansas’ predator permit is a double edged sword. While the permit allows for a restoration of wildlife balance, it also raises concerns with the socially perceived wanton waste of natural resources - the furbearers themselves.
For this reason, the Game and Fish Commission is examining the possibility of connecting predator control permit holders with registered fur trappers. When a raccoon, coyote or other permitted animal is killed, the permit holder could then transfer the animal to a fur trapper who can then utilize marketable portions of the animal - such as glands and hides. This method tends to only be feasible during the colder months, when fur trappers are active, and the hides from fur-bearing animals are prime enough to exhibit usable value.