On Nov. 12, Idaho Fish and Game invited citizens to a forum on trapping rules. About 90 percent of the participants argued for reasonable changes to the existing rules. The next day, the commissioners disregarded all public input and let the rules stand. Instead, they decided to offer trapper education courses.

On Jan. 7, I attended the second part of the two-day trapping course, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., given by three F&G officials, a trapper accompanied by his family (including a 5-year-old girl taught how to trap weasels), and a taxidermist who also works for the U.S. Forest Service. He skinned two muskrats and one mink. A beaver and a kitten mountain lion were skinned after I left.

Of interest to me was the subject of freeing an unwanted target like my dog or myself. The trapper mentioned that a dog caught in a “padded jaw trap” could be freed in five minutes. He was a big man and could pry the trap open. I, weighing 94 pounds, tried unsuccessfully, even after the trapper instructed me to also step on it. Extensive printed information was provided.

Is F&G aiding trappers to improve safety or their profits?

Cecilia Nolthenius

Coeur d’Alene