Animal trapping was once more lucrative; trappers are an 'endangered species' who still have a vital ecological role

Baker carries a muskrat and trapping equipment while
workinga marsh. (Photo by Eric Lee, The Washington Post)

Once vital to colonial America and then to the fashion industry, fur trappers in states like Maryland are becoming an "endangered species," reports Fredrick Kunkle of The Washinton Post. "As recently as the 1970s, Maryland counted approximately 5,000 trappers; today there are maybe 300 to 400 active statewide . . . . Changes in fashion, and the long, steady migration of Americans from farms and rural areas into cities and suburbs have made trapping a controversial anachronism. Global fur prices have collapsed since 2013-14."

Beyond the fur industry, trappers play an essential role in wildlife knowledge. "Trappers are some of the most devout and most detail-oriented … outdoorsmen out there," Joshua Tabora, a furbearer biologist with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, told Kunkle, "When you talk to some of these guys who've been doing it since the '70s and the '80s—they're walking repositories of ecological knowledge." Kunkle adds, "Trappers, who provide data to the DNR for research on animal populations and tracking zoonotic and other diseases, tend to be keenly observant and knowledgeable about animal behavior and the signs their quarry leave behind, Tabora said."

Kunkle joined Dan Baker, a life-longer trapper from Maryland, to discover how he makes a living. "The Maryland State Highway Administration pays him to trap beavers, whose dams can flood and wreak havoc with country roads, and ordinary folks pay him to remove pesky home invaders." He told Kunkle, "It got to the point where somebody had a groundhog in their garden so they'd call me . . . . And then somebody would say, 'I got a snake in the house. Can you come down?' And it just got bigger and bigger."

Baker also sells meat most groceries don't carry. "One of his regular customers is Howard Brooks, who took 300 muskrat meats off Baker last year," Kunkle reports. "Brooks said he kept a few dozen for himself and distributed the rest, at cost, to other folks who prize the muskrat's dark, savory flesh." Brooks told Kunkle, "You can bake 'em, grill 'em. I can fry them and make gravy with some onions. They don't taste like chicken. I can tell you that."

Baker spends time teaching new hunters, but the trade is declining, Kunkle reports. "During the fur trade peak between the 1970s and 1980s, prime red fox pelt would fetch an average of $46 — about $185 in today's dollars — and old-timers guarded their turf as closely as their trade secrets. . . . Nowadays, though, fox pelts go for around $3, Baker said. The [trade] has plummeted because of the animal rights movement and advances in fabric technology that led to a switch from natural furs."