Fox Trapping by A.R. Harding

I always enjoy reading trapping books from "the good old days."  It's fascinating to see how methods have evolved, and just as interesting to see what techniques remain the same.  One of the things I like most is the style of writing from a century ago.  There's always a turn of phrase or memorable quote from these old timers.  I recently stumbled on this old fox trapping book by A.R. Harding from 1906.  It is available free online at this link.  Here's just one snippet from page 11 that I find very amusing (click "read the whole story" below).

NTA Action Alert on Grey Wolf Legislation

Hi folks.  Maybe you've received this email from the NTA, but in case you haven't I'm passing it along in the hope that many of you will contact your legislators. 

 Action Alert

The NTA needs your help!

Big Game Forever, a coalition of several organizations, including the NTA, is currently working with friends in Congress to remove the grey wolf from the endangered species list. We have the antis worried! They have called for their supporters to contact legislators to oppose these bills, S. 249 and H.R. 509. We need you to counter that effort with one of our own! Please contact your Congressman and Senators and show support for this precedent setting legislation. Help return wolf management to the states! Any letters, e-mails or phone calls to Washington will help. If you need addresses just go to congress.org for contact information for your individual representatives, or log on to biggameforever.org and add your name to their petition. Karen and I will be in Washington DC Feb 16th making visits but we need you to help! If you have received this e-mail, you are just a few mouse clicks away from showing your support as well.

Please help us fight the fight!

Dave Linkhart, Director of National and International Affairs, National Trappers Association

Some Good Press for Trappers

The Canadian Times and Transcript newspaper recently ran an excellent article by reporter James Foster, who took a trapper's education course and reported on it.  Trappers are Mostly Misunderstood is a very fair and informative editorial that looks at trapping as both an art and a science.  Here's one quote from the article:

"If I took away nothing else from the course, it's that trapping requires a whole lot of knowledge, a ton of common sense and a sense of duty to our furbearing wildlife that goes far beyond that of the ordinary everyday citizen."

Foxes Hunt with Magnetic Alignment

Photo Source Link

I'm always amazed at the obscure things people find to research.  Some European scientists did a study on how red foxes hunt and discovered that they may use the earth's magnetic field as a sort of range finder.

It was discovered that foxes tend to prepare to jump at their prey in long vegetation or snow with their body aligned in a north-easterly direction (about 20° clockwise from magnetic north).  Researchers say their findings suggest that foxes may be attacking their prey using magnetic alignment.  Professor Hynek Burda (of Germany) hypothesizes that the fox can sense the magnetic northerly direction as a patch of dark or light.  In the northern hemisphere the magnetic field tilts downwards below the horizontal at an angle of 60-70°, so the fox edges forward until the point at which the angle of the sound from the prey meets the slope of the magnetic field.  At that point the intended target is a fixed jump distance away.

Other animals are known to be able to sense magnetic fields.  Burda’s other research showed that herds of cows and deer tend to align in a north-south direction, except when grazing under high-voltage power lines, which produce strong magnetic fields.

If foxes do in fact have a "sixth sense" for magnetic fields, I wonder if they have any ability to detect a magnetic disturbance from a buried metal object, like a foothold trap?  I swear I've had a few traps dug up that were so solidly bedded and concealed I was sure the guilty critter must have had ESP.

Read the full story here.