Pynn's Brook -
Out for a walk along a popular blueberry pickers' path, Jane Martin found a series of animal snares and a small trap. One snare had been set off, one snare had not. The sprung trap was in the same area.
None should have been there, she said.
The discoveries were an outrage to Martin, who said she had been in the area last year when a family pet - her cousin's daughter's dog - was injured, after being caught in a snare.
"Last year, one of the dogs got caught in a leftover trap," said Martin. "I don't understand why anyone would do it - set them and just leave them there."
She said the area in question is close to the transmission lines, along the old dirt road in Pynn's Brook.
"Anybody who berry picks is going to know where it is."
Currently, all trapping seasons (there are specific hunting periods for each fur-bearing animal) are closed. Trapping will reopen again in the fall, according to the Department of Environment and Conservation.
Manager of conservation services for the wildlife division, Chris Baldwin, said incidents of traps being left out after end-of-season are "not common."
However, he said, snares are often left out but kept unset.
"Trappers are fairly vigilant in removing their traps. Snares, that's another story," said Baldwin. "It's not uncommon to find snares that are pulled through (unset)."
Baldwin said the complaint from Martin, who retrieved the snares and trap and delivered them to wildlife officials, should not be seen as a regular occurrence.
Baldwin believes Martin's find may be a rare case.
"There are times when trappers are asked to deal with nuisance problems (out of season), but I doubt that's the case here," he said.
There are currently no requirements, said Baldwin, for trappers to mark snares and traps, and in most municipalities there are no regulation distances from town wherein a person cannot set a trap.
"However, most trappers are very vigilant in where they set them," he said.
Martin, meanwhile, wondered why the recreational area near Pynn's Brook is being used for trapping at all.
"If the area wasn't so highly traveled, I wouldn't worry about it," she said. "It's like the 401 (highway) there in the summertime with the blueberries in August."
Martin said the area is visible from the main road and a popular area for blueberry picking, but also for friends to have boil-ups, families to go walking and children to go looking for pin fish in the nearby river.
She said the snare that had been set off still held a rabbit that had gone unclaimed by the trapper and was "torn to shreds," possibly from another animal. Martin said she came across a second rabbit carcass along the pathway, not in a snare.
The small trap, she said, was found near the river and "looked like a mink trap."
Martin's father had been a trapper, but he had used snares, she said.
"If people find them, obviously it would be a good idea to let us know," said Baldwin, who added that reports can be made to the nearest Department of Natural Resources office.
A "code of conduct" statement within the department's 2009-2010 Hunting and Trapping Guide calls upon trappers to act responsibly, particularly near residential areas.
The Department of Environment and Conservation has provided information online on how to keep your dog from getting caught in a trap or snare. It is available at: http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/publications.htm.
The document includes photo diagrams of how to remove a dog from a trap.
