Ohio trapper shares opinion on bobcat proposal
Letter to the Editor:
After the March 23 opinion column by Randi Pokladnik, my phone started ringing. As this bobcat proposal by the Ohio Division of Wildlife moves forward, we fully expect letters like this to pop up.
The use of foothold traps is highly regulated in Ohio and across the nation. The trappers of Ohio recently worked with ODOW personnel and asked for some additional regulations on trap sizes and modifications.
We did not need to do this because our current regulations were an acceptable, working model. We did it because nobody cares more about our sport, our passion, than we do, and nobody cares more about our fur bearers than we do, and we do understand that it is a public resource. Ohio, as well as most states, has some form of a daily trap check law. Dehydration or starvation as protectionists would have you believe is simply not an issue.
If bobcats were ever actually extirpated from Ohio, note the fact of a unique DNA that is not shared by any of the migrating populations cited later in this article, it is a real stretch to say that trapping was part of the equation. At that time period there was no fur trade value to speak of for “wildcat,” so you can assume any trapping and more likely hunting was done simply because they were a threat to domestic stock.
The real truth of the matter is land clearing eliminated habitat, and without proper habitat nothing can or will exist. Changes in land use have created a rebirth of habitat conducive to the survival of bobcats; this is why we are experiencing a rapid increase here in Ohio now.
Bobcats were put on the endangered species list when the United Sates became involved with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species or CITES.
CITES was a political football and a potential nightmare for professional wildlife managers right from the start. If not for the diligence of true conservationists, CITES would have likely accomplished the animal equalists' goal of stopping any use of any animal.
Bobcats were listed on CITES simply because of a “look alike” concern with the Mexican bobcat, which their government claims is actually endangered, and yes, there are other species listed for the same reason.
Rest assured, bobcats in the lower 48 states, as a whole, never have been and never will be a species that is in danger of extinction. A little investigation will show that most states have very liberal seasons with no limits on take, and most have an increasing population. I have a research paper on file that comes to that conclusion.
Bobcats are a self-renewing natural resource. Any resource that can be used without being detrimental to the resource and isn’t used is being wasted. That’s where being a true conservationist comes into play.
Conservation is wise use, not nonuse, which is preservation. The professional biologists make a living determining if any natural resource can be used and to what degree, not only in the present, but also trends for the future.
No one, especially trappers and hunters that are true conservationists, would propose or support anything that would put a population in jeopardy. Again, look at history. Trappers, hunters and fishermen are the sole reason you even have any wildlife today.
Those who came before us were wise enough to see into the future and knew that we needed to come up with a set of guidelines and begin to manage our natural resources for the benefit of all, and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation was drafted and is now accepted across the U.S.
I have been credited as stating all the flora and fauna belong to everyone in the state. Yes, I did say that during a 48-minute phone interview with the original column's author, but that’s not my statement. It’s actually part of the North American model I referred to earlier.
I am glad to see the preservationists latching onto this because it must mean they agree with the North American model, and another one of the tenets of the model is science is the proper tool for discharge of wildlife policy. Science is what is behind the proposal to start a season for harvesting bobcat in Ohio, not emotion. Emotion is the one and only thing behind any argument against a season.
Now some truth about the economic factor. The pelts of the top-grade western bobcats do command a high price at this time; it is all about supply and demand. Bobcats from the eastern U.S. never have been as in demand in the fur trade as western bobcats.
West Virginia held their winter fur auction on March 4, 2018, and 274 bobcats were sold for a $29.78 average with a high price of $60. Ohio bobcats will grade in the same basic category, so this price is a good indicator. Obviously this is not an economic incentive that would cause trappers from all over the state to rush to an open zone to try and catch their single permitted cat.
The ODOW professional wildlife biologists and their staff conducted a multi-year field research study that began in 2007. This part of the study included, but is not limited to, the following elements: the use of hair snares, basically a Velcro-type material that was lured with an attractant to induce the rubbing instinct of the bobcat. When rubbing on these pads, loose hair would shed out and stick to the pad providing a source for DNA sampling. This sampling yielded some interesting results.
We have two distinct and separate populations of bobcats here in Ohio. One is a distinct DNA and is what is commonly referred to as the Noble County population. This is what is in the northern zone proposed by the ODOW.
The DNA of what is in the proposed southern zone is the same as the bobcats from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. I believe you will find that the DNA of the bobcats north of the Noble County population as well as those west of it also are of the Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky population.
Another part of the study was, and is, camera grids in different habitats. A professor with Ohio University started duplicating the ODOW study last year, only on a larger scale. This study is already showing an increase on grids that are duplicates of ODOW grids from just a couple years ago, from 30 percent occupancy to 50 percent. That’s quite an increase in such a short time, but that increase also runs true in other data sources.
Another major element in the ODOW’s field research was actually getting their hands on live bobcats using foot-hold traps so they could do examinations, take needed measurements, radio collar and release for gathering lifestyle data in the future.
If you want good information, true information, about any of our natural resources, consult with those who manage it, whose livelihood is directly connected to it. Never take an emotionally driven opinion as a fact.
Keith Daniels
Ohio State Trappers Association president