Post by walleyed on Feb 15, 2012 9:47:56 GMT -5
I have been checking my three 160's set in a spring run between two Beaver bogs for the last 2 weeks, dutifully breaking the ice away from the traps every other day with no action.
The weekend cold snap added more stiff ice and snow cover. After breaking it away again, yesterday, I arrived at the trap location Today to find a myriad of mammal tracks on the approach to the trap site, all headed straight there.
There were fox, coyote, opossum, coon, mink, and fisher.
I knew something was up, and I was worried I had made a catch that had probably already been eaten.
Sure enough, one of the 160's was missing, lathe stake and all, and the snow was pounded down with the various tracks surrounding the catch site.
Five yards away on the snow covered ice was a nice, Buck Mink who was hip caught and had expired with a heavy semi-circle of various mammal tracks all around him in a three foot perimeter.
Remarkably, he was untouched, and the heavy odor of mink musk hung in the moist air all about the scene.
Apparently, last night's warm, moisture laden air was perfect conditions for scent tracking by the various predator species, but apparently, all were too paranoid to close the deal.
Lucky for me, and it sucks to be them.
I regret not having the digital camera with me to record the events at the scene so a home photo of the "Corpus Delecti" will have to suffice.
thanks for looking.
walleyed
The weekend cold snap added more stiff ice and snow cover. After breaking it away again, yesterday, I arrived at the trap location Today to find a myriad of mammal tracks on the approach to the trap site, all headed straight there.
There were fox, coyote, opossum, coon, mink, and fisher.
I knew something was up, and I was worried I had made a catch that had probably already been eaten.
Sure enough, one of the 160's was missing, lathe stake and all, and the snow was pounded down with the various tracks surrounding the catch site.
Five yards away on the snow covered ice was a nice, Buck Mink who was hip caught and had expired with a heavy semi-circle of various mammal tracks all around him in a three foot perimeter.
Remarkably, he was untouched, and the heavy odor of mink musk hung in the moist air all about the scene.
Apparently, last night's warm, moisture laden air was perfect conditions for scent tracking by the various predator species, but apparently, all were too paranoid to close the deal.
Lucky for me, and it sucks to be them.
I regret not having the digital camera with me to record the events at the scene so a home photo of the "Corpus Delecti" will have to suffice.
thanks for looking.
walleyed