Contrary to some peoples' belief and what the animal rights groups would have you think, we are not the bloodthirsty killers we've been made out to be. That thought could not be further from the truth. The fact is that we are ever mindful of what we do, with the animal’s welfare always in the forefront of our minds.

All Wildlife Damage Control agents must follow "BMP's" or Best Management Practices. These are international guidelines for traps and trappers that dictate what sort of traps we use and methods of dispatch that are acceptable, all with the welfare of the animal in mind. Even though we may dispatch the animal for one reason or another, nobody wants to see a critter suffer or experience undue stress.

When we purchase new traps, we tend to want to tinker with them. We will upgrade them and modify them to make them even more efficient and even kinder to the animal we are trying to catch. Most of the traps on the market will meet these BMP guidelines from the start. Then we shorten chains, add swivels, center mount the chains on the frame, add shock absorbing springs, laminate jaws to make them wider and/or several other little tricks and modifications; all intended to make the traps quicker, hold better and relieve more of the animals stress while in the trap. Our goal is to take the animal with as little pain and stress as possible.

On any damage control job, the best solution will solve the problem without having to take the animal. When capture and removal is necessary, it's done as humanely as possible.

Have you ever seen a trapper or a Damage Control technician transporting an animal in a small tight cage? You may think it cruel for the animal to be crammed in such a tight and confining space. But in reality, we transport many animals in tight cages to keep them from hurting themselves. It restricts their movements so that they cannot flail around or chew at the wiring, thus preventing cuts, scrapes and broken bones and teeth.

Yes, at times we do use lethal traps. But, again, these traps are accepted by international BMP’s. They dispatch the animal very quickly leaving scant little time to suffer. Most of these traps dispatch almost instantly. We remain ever mindful of the dangers of these traps and do not use them where catching a family pet or other incidental catch is likely. Nothing would hurt our business or our conscience more than pulling a stiff, lifeless “Fluffy” from one of our Conibears.

Our traps do not have teeth! That would be illegal as well as unethical. I own many different kinds of traps from foot holds, to snares, to body grips and there are no teeth on any of them.

Drowning as a type of euthanasia is not accepted and is illegal. You’ll not see me dunking a cage full of squirrels in a drum full of water.

Treble hooks hanging from tree limbs to catch coyotes. I’ve heard of this practice but always get the tight lip when I ask “Who did that?”  That’s something else that would not be accepted and highly illegal.

Dumping dead carcasses on the road side, in a ditch, in the creek, at the boat ramp or any other such place is not only illegal but can be a serious health hazard.

These are just a few of the things that we do not do. Should you notice these practices, please, by all means, report it to your local WEO or game warden.

In closing I thought I might share something with you that I have always believed: “Animal lovers make the greatest hunters and trappers.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it’s helped to ease your concerns a bit. In the future I’ll try to show some photos of some of the tools of the trade and help explain why we use the tools we use. So be sure to check in with us again. I plan to build this site into the “Go to” place for information on wildlife and our interaction with it.