The Rural Voice, 1988-03, Page 24Liquid Manure
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22 THE RURAL VOICE
mining shaft. Even if there is no
physical pain, there will be stress. (I
do recall one occasion approaching a
fox held in one of my leghold traps. It
did not see me, and to my surprise was
curled up sleeping. And we know a
fox is a very high-strung animal.)
Cattle brought in from the range, con-
fined to a truck for thousands of miles
and then to a feedlot, suffer stress too,
as farmers know. Even aircraft flying
over a henhouse will cause stress, evi-
dent in the bloodspots in eggs. Stress
is everywhere, both in domestic and
wild animals.
The Ministry of Natural Resources
now conducts workshops and all new
trappers must take a training program
and pass a test before they are allowed
a licence to trap. Part of this training
program is "hands-on" instruction
done on location. The ministry also
for his efforts than the farmer selling
his grain.
So there are abuses, but I believe
more people are aware now that our
resources have to last for the succeed-
ing generations. I believe Mr. Ford is
aware of this when he tries to apply
conservation to his trapping. But I
also agree with Mr. Weinberg that it
would be poor management to contin-
ue trapping fox after the numbers have
been depleted by disease. And I'm
glad that we've had people like Mr.
Weinberg over the past few years to
prick the conscience of the trappers.
They have done a great deal to try to
make trapping as humane as possible.
Rats, mice, groundhogs, beaver,
rabbits, coyotes, skunks: yes, there
are nuisance animals. Often they can
be relocated in a different area, but
sometimes they must be killed. Bea -
"Our society is so much hinged to economics that we often
abuse the environment for the sake of that last dollar. There
are trappers who will take the very last animal, there are
farmers who will sap the very last fertility from the soil ..."
tries to control the take by restricting
the number of licences in any given
territory. Quotas are set on certain
species. All furs except muskrat must
be stamped and recorded before they
can be sold. While trapping is one
way the ministry is trying to stabilize
the ups and downs of wildlife popula-
tions brought on by disease and other
natural problems, regulations help to
control any poaching or excess takes.
But our society is so much hinged
to economics that we often abuse the
environment for the sake of that last
dollar. There are trappers who will
take the very last animal, there are
farmers who will sap the very last fer-
tility from the soil, there are lumber-
men who will cut undersized trees
and strip the landscape, and there are
miners who turn the very last stone to
get every ounce of gold. We also have
unscrupulous fishermen — game hogs
— both sport and commercial.
Abuses, however, should not
prevent monetary rewards for honest
endeavour. We all expect it, so what
is wrong with Mr. Ford getting paid
for his furs? For the time he spends,
I'm not sure he will make any more
ver flood thousands of acres of timber.
I own a bush near Wiarton where app-
roximately 50 acres of good cedar and
some hardwood has been drowned. I
can't walk from one side of the prop-
erty to the other, let alone drive a
tractor. This year I commissioned a
trapper, who took 29 beaver. I've had
to remove beaver dams from the river
below my house because spring flood-
ing would erode my cornfields.
On the question of whether coy-
otes kill sheep, ask Roy Rathwell of
Wiarton. Also, don't tell me skunks
are not a nuisance in a bee yard. And
trappers are often called upon to solve
nuisance problems, most of which
arise in urban centres. If at all pos-
sible, the ministry encourages the
taking of these animals during prime
season so the pelt is not wasted.
I will refrain from making more
specific comments about some of the
issues raised by Mr. Ford and Mr.
Weinberg, but in conclusion would
like to make some recommendations
and to emphasize a couple of points.
First, we are all dependent on
harvesters who are closely associated
with our environment and are respon-