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Humboldt Field Research Institute

Posted April 5, 1999

Survey of Trappers Gives Glimpse of Motivation

People who trap beaver, coyote and other furbearing animals in the 1990s tend to have an active outdoor lifestyle which includes hunting, fishing and collecting wild edible plants, according to results of a six-state survey by John Daigle, assistant professor of parks, recreation and tourism at the University of Maine, and a team of researchers. The nearly 2,300 respondents to their survey ranked appreciation for nature, for example observing and learning about wildlife, as an important motivation for trapping.

“This type of research really begins to substantiate why people are interested in trapping furbearers,” says Daigle. “Underlying motivations are much more complex than popular ideas of killing wildlife for income or for managing nuisance wildlife.”

Their report was published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin in 1998. Income, animal control and affiliation with other people were less important to trappers in the early 1990s, according to the survey results. “Trapping in the northeastern United States, contrary to being compartmentalized, is one of many activities that are integral to and well-integrated within a broader lifestyle oriented to the out-of-doors,” the report concludes.

Daigle's findings are part of an attempt to understand what motivates trappers as participation in the activity is dropping across the nation. In Vermont during the late 1980s, the number of licensed trappers dropped from 3,090 to 879 in the early 1990s. In Maine, the State licensed about 2,500 trappers in 1992-93, far fewer than participated in the activity in the 1980's. Part of this decrease has been linked to low prices paid for pelts in Europe.

“We found another important variable,” says Daigle. “A tremendous amount of time is required to fully participate in fur trapping. Unlike other wildlife-related outdoor activities, trapping requires that all traps set must be checked on a daily basis. Most trappers have full time regular jobs, so trapping involves setting traps in the very early morning and checking them after work. Most nights will be devoted to processing and preparing furbearers. A great deal of time is placed on preparing pelts because it directly reflects their skills and ability as well as the price paid by a fur buyer.

“In addition for many trappers, vacations from jobs are scheduled around part of the trapping season. Many trappers would like to keep trapping if they could break even, but they cannot justify the costs for fuel and equipment and the time required to trap. Of course, other trappers simply leave trapping because it no longer interests them.”

Daigle is the principle author of the report. His colleagues included Robert M. Muth, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Rodney R. Zwick, Lyndon State College; and Ronald J. Glass, a research consultant in Starksboro, Vermont.

In 1994, the researchers mailed a 14-page questionnaire to 3,932 people who held trapping licenses or who participated in trapping activities in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The analysis was based on a total of 2,279 returned questionnaires, 65% of the total. Daigle also conducted personal interviews with more than 100 of the survey respondents throughout the six-state region.

Daigle grew up in Stillwater, Maine, near Bangor and attended Old Town High School. He received his bachelor's degree from UMaine and worked in Montana for the U.S. Forest Service before returning to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts.

He is not a trapper but recalls that his father and grandfather both trapped along the Penobscot River while he was growing up. He wants to continue collecting information from people engaged in wildlife-related activities, including people who do not trap or hunt. He is particularly interested in how wildlife activities are passed down from one generation to another and become part of family traditions.

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