AR-News: Fluff piece on trapping

[Peg Leg Bates]

Please send a letter to the editor of the Coshocton Tribune explaining the true nature of trapping and the devastation it brings to the animals.  The LTE should be sent through the Tribune's webpage at http://www.coshoctontribune.com/customerservice/contactus.html

Fluff piece to follow.

Peace,
Joe
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http://www.coshoctontribune.com/news/stories/20030906/localnews/206981.html

Ohio trappers gather at fairgrounds
Ohio State Trappers Association hosting 63rd Annual Convention 
By KATHIE DICKERSON
Staff Writer 

COSHOCTON -- The Coshocton County Fair may be three weeks away, but there's lots going on at the fairgrounds this weekend. 

The Ohio State Trappers Association, Inc. is hosting its 63rd Annual Convention. 

"We were here four years ago, and got a good reception from the community," said Steve Massi, treasurer of the organization. 

He said there are lots of trappers in the northeast region of the state, and Coshocton County is a good place to host a gathering for the 1,600 member group. 

He's expecting 2,000 to 2,500 people to show up this weekend at the fairgrounds to purchase trapping supplies and watch a number of demonstrations going on throughout the weekend. 

Dealers are set up around the fairgrounds and visitors can purchase fishing gear, T-shirts, hats, snow shoes, lure scents, live traps and fox fur hats. 

Demonstrations include mink, beaver and nuisance trapping, water snaring and trap anchoring. 

Jim Fissell from Mt. Gilead is president of OSTA. He said the convention will give a boost to the local economy for the weekend. Some people travel more than a hundred miles to attend the event, and will need to purchase food and gas and perhaps spend the night in a local motel. 

Many area motels who offered a discount for Ohio State Trappers are booked for the weekend. 

But a lot of the participants want to spend the weekend camping at the fairgrounds. 

"It's like the Mountain Man Rendezvous that were held in the 1820s to 1840s," Fissell said. "Most of these people only see each other once a year, and they like to spend the weekend catching up on things." 

Eric Ucker, Wayne County Wildlife officer, is spending the weekend at the fairgrounds. 

"I come to the conventions to see everyone," he said, "and to purchase supplies." 

Ucker said he started trapping as a child, but he still learns from convention demonstrations. 

"There are always new techniques to help get the best fur in the most humane manner," he said. 

Fissell said trapping plays an important part in wildlife control, and that over population of wildlife can lead to many problems. 

"Most of those problems are human conflict," he said, "from 'coons in the attic to 'coons in the cornfield." 

Raccoons can damage crops and beaver dams can cause problems with flooding, he said. There are livestock predators, and wild animals that carry disease like rabies and mange, which can be transmitted to humans and domestic animals, as well as distemper and canine parvovirus. 

"Over population can cause a high concentrations of these diseases," he said. 

Fissell said trapping season for most animals runs from November 10 to January 31 in Ohio. This is when fur is at its prime and animals won't be bearing offspring. 

The Ohio Trappers Association holds educational displays at many Ohio county fairs, the Paul Bunyan Show at Hocking College and the Cleveland Sports Show. Fissell does a lot educational seminars at elementary schools around the state. 

"A lot of these kids would never see a gray fox or muskrat," he said. 

OSTA holds four fur auctions a year, and Fissell said during a good trapping year, $12,000 to $20,000 worth of furs will change hands at one auction. 

Last year raccoon fur was bringing about $10, stretched and dried. Beaver fur was down he said, bringing about $12 to $15 each and red fox was up, selling for about $25. 

If you're already a trapper and need to purchase supplies, or want to learn more about trapping, the Coshocton County Fairgrounds is the place to be this weekend. 

kdickerson at nncogannett.com

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