New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Beaver trapping season underway; some don’t like it
NORFOLK — Roger Johnson and his wife were hiking near Haystack Mountain State Park when they came upon a young beaver caught in a steel trap near a small pond and instinctively went to investigate.
They freed the animal. “Something didn't look quite right and it was because one of the yearlings was caught in a steel jaw leg hold trap, splashing around trying to free itself,” Johnson said, describing what occurred Dec. 28 as the couple walk across the south dam between Barbour Woods and Haystack Mountain and observed beavers swimming below.
Johnson was charged with springing the trap and the incident prompted him to plan to petition the legislature to change the types of traps allowed in the state, a local lawmaker to investigate the issue further and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to affirm trapping as necessary in the state.
A nuisance?
Capt. Keith Williams, of the DEEP’s Environmental Conservation Police, said that controlling the state’s population of beavers by trapping is an important part of the state’s work.
“One of the things that’s (important) in controlling beavers is flooding,” he said. “We’ve had issues with beaver dams flooding roadways, that has cost thousands of dollars to repair.
“Trapping is a gruesome activity, but the traps are designed to kill the animal quickly,” he said. “I don’t know what pond (Johnson) was referring to but it was probably legal to trap there. He was very lucky he didn’t get injured releasing the beaver. Those traps will take your hand right off. Or, the beaver can bite you, or they’ll wack you with their tail.
That can cause some damage too.”
Williams said hasn’t heard of many people releasing a beaver as Johnson did.
“It’s rare that a person is able to free a beaver,” he said. “As for finding traps, the trapping community itself tries to stay out of the limelight. You rarely hear about trappers in Connecticut, because they know it’s a hot topic. People don’t like to see it. It’s in the best interest of the trapper to keep a low profile. And people rarely fool around with someone else’s traps.”
Williams said Johnson was right to immediately contact the environmental police. “If people see a trap, or a beaver, dead or alive, and they’re concerned, for whatever reason, the best thing to do it report it. Trappers have rules to follow, and if there’s something illegal going on, and a resident sees something strange, we want to hear about it,” he said.
“Safety is the most important thing,” Williams said. “Stay away from the animal, stay away from the traps. If you try to free an animal, it may try to defend itself. And as I said, the traps are dangerous. Leave it alone.”
Gruesome sight
When the couple found the beaver that day at the end of December, Johnson said, the trap was strong and had the animal in its grip.
“It was just a vise, with two sides, and the beaver was in it,” he said. “It wasn’t like an old-school bear trap with teeth, but it was metal and very strong. It broke a stick in half.”
Johnson said his wife, Katka Hannelová, nearly stepped on another trap at the edge of the pond. “It could have gotten her, and easily have gotten our dog,” he said.
The couple said the neighboring property owners near the pond were watching the scene, and came out to investigate. “The neighbors we talked to were furious,” Johnson said. “They also have dogs, and one of them swims in that pond ... they said ‘That could easily have been our dog.’”
Johnson and Hannelová waited with the little beaver until it was dark, and then put it in some tall grass near the water’s edge. When they returned the next day, the beaver was gone.
“We saw a little blood trail in the grass leading to the pond, so maybe it went back in the water ... we didn’t see it anywhere,” Johnson said.
He called the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to let them know what happened, “and to check if these traps were legally set,” he said. “The next morning, an environmental officer named Ed Norton returned my phone call to inform me that my actions were illegal. I was charged with criminal mischief for removing the beaver and disabling the steel traps.”
The officer told Johnson that, when a person finds an animal in a trap, they are not allowed to touch it or move it, and they should contact the state’s wildlife division if they have questions.
A choice
Johnson is well aware that trapping is allowed in Connecticut, and that beavers are considered by some to be a nuisance, because they take down trees and flood waterways to build dams and dens. His issue, he said, is the use of what he perceives as inhumane trapping practices — namely, the steel trap that holds an animal in its grip until it dies.
“Last year, the Norfolk Land Trust tried to pass a bill to ban certain types of traps,” Johnson said. “We’re going to send a petition to the chairman of the legislature’s environmental committee.
“We’re not going to change any minds (about trapping). We know that,” Johnson said. “We just wonder if these kinds of traps should be legal. We’ve been told to write letters to (state Rep.) Maria Horn (D-64), and if she could say, ‘I have 50 letters from people in my area,’ maybe that would help.”
Johnson pointed out that Massachusetts, which also has a large beaver population, has changed its regulations to prohibit certain types of traps. “Dying is never painless, but there’s a reason these traps are illegal ... in some of our surrounding states,” Johnson said. “I find it hard to believe that most people wouldn’t make a different choice if they witnessed what I did. Furthermore, having traps around that break legs are bound to catch an unsuspecting dog or other animal or human.”
Lawmakers
Rep. Maria Horn said she has received a number of calls about beaver trapping, and the types of traps that are being used.
“I’ve taken some calls from people in the last few days, and we have investigated a law banning these kinds of traps,” she said. “We got a lot of pushback, so we’ve put it off for another day.
“In the interim, I need to do research on the traps themselves. Massachusetts has banned these types of traps in favor of another type, and they are used under water, so they’re not a danger to dogs. That’s something I’m going to look into,” she said.
Horn’s biggest concern is safety for everyone. “My concern is that trapping is done in an appropriate location,” she said. “Are there other alternatives for the kinds of traps that are used, is another concern. And obviously, there’s a concern about the humanity of trapping. If a representative from the DEEP is out there, doing their job to explain what’s permissible and what isn’t, then that will make a difference. But the location is important.”
Sen. Craig Miner, R-30, is a longtime outdoorsman who has discussed the issue of trapping animals before.
“We’ve had legislation proposed on trapping and the types of traps, and last year, we had a very long public hearing about it,” he said. “We concluded that it would be difficult for humans and wildlife to live together if the beaver population increased. That includes nuisance wildlife in particular, and beavers could fall into that category.”
People who are opposed to trapping altogether have also made their opinions known, but there’s no simple answer, Miner said.
The DEEP notes that beavers live with their young for up to two years. After that, the young are driven out of the den to find their own habitat, just as bears do when the cubs are about a year and a half old. Young beavers are often the ones found on the side of the road as they make their way to a new home. Miner is saddened by the idea of a beaver being hit by a car and dying slowly and painfully from its injuries.
“Every time I see a beaver (dead) on the side of the road, I think, ‘Oh my God, how awful that must have been,’” he said. “But if I see one in a trap, I don’t feel that way. Trapping seems to be the most logical tool; it seems to be the most wellthought out process so far. And there are always advancements in the mechanisms that people use. The steel trap is a much quicker piece of equipment (to eliminate beavers) but it doesn’t work in all settings, which is why there are a number of different (traps). People who know what they’re doing will use the proper mechanism.”
The senator also pointed out that in spite of what people might think, trapping is “tightly, tightly controlled” by the state’s hunting and trapping laws and officials in charge.
“I understand why people feel the way they do about trapping, but the state does everything it can to make it work and to control the number of beavers,” he said. “It’s all done for a reason, and it’s not as comforting for some people. But without trapping, there would be many more.”