Got together Friday with Ted Cantrell to do some damage control on a private duck lakes. Beaver, raccoon, mink and muskrats. Behind locked gate.
He drove up here on Friday, With a bunch of padded traps and some conibears. Permits in hand we headed out to the ponds to set a few traps. Now we knew the weather forecast was for a winter storm to hit on Saturday and the temp was going to plummet, but that has never stopped us before and it didn't this time either. Went to the beaver lodge on the bank of the first pond, set 5 conibears in the water around it. Then we got the canoe into the water and put 48 padded traps ranging in size from #1 dc to #2 dbls ,all padded, some wire and stakes. and set out in a mostly ice covered pond, with my dog in the canoe...for her first time.....
Open water along the reed edges with a little bit of thin ice, and a dog that wont sit still, thrown in just to make thing interesting. now we were looking for mink and muskrat sign of which there was surprisingly little, lst year ther were bunches. Paddled up to the property line turned around and headed back to the beaver lodge. Paddled past it headed the other way finding even less sign and more ice. found a nice semi sheltered spot to beach the canoe for the night.
Drove back up to the to of the hill and packed some equipment halfway back to the second pond and then did some scouting. Now I have an Otter pro sled so packing my stuff back wasn't much of a problem. But Ted doesn't have an Otter sled so he used my second canoe. Well, I took off walking towing my sled and he followed. When I got to the halfway point I stopped dropped my sled and went back to help Ted pull the canoe along. We got to where I had stopped, dropped the canoe and went scouting.
Got to the second beaver pond and split up, Ted going right and me going left, I have trapped this property last year so I knew where the beaver dam was at, I just wanted to check the cross over. Foune the cross over and it was narrower but well used, excellent. Ted Called me over to where he was at, 20 feet out on the ice....
"Come out here and bring Charlie with you."
" How solid is the ice out there? and why do I want to come out there?"
"Found a muskrat hut with a hole in the top. The ice held me so it should hold you."
Had to agree with him there so I walked out on the ice, in 45 degree weather, to where he was. Yep muskrat hut hole in the top. Charlie walked right beside the hut looked at it and kept right on walking.
"Charlie, come here and stick your nose down here and tell us if there are any rats home."
She walked over stuck her nose in the hole and walked away, evidently no rats home.
Ted walked past the hut further onto the ice. I'm thinking this isn't a good idea. The ice starts to sink to his right and he moves to the left. He stopped. My dog walked in front of him and broke through the ice, bounced rightout and continued on her way. Then we heard the ice crack.
"Time to get out of here, Ted." I turned and headed back to the shore. Charlie in front of me, Then I heard "Oh, S**t." Turned around and Ted is 3 feet tall and getting shorter..... Yep the ice gave way under him.
I heard "I found the Bottom" as he went chest deep in the water, So I stepped back to the muskrat hut, one step past it and grabbed Teds hand to help pull him out of the water. That is when I found out what he had really said as the ice gave way under my right foot and I went in to my hip. and still hadn't hit any thing remotely solid. Got Ted to a point that he could grab some reeds and turned to getting myself out. I got out then he got out.
"Just had to do it Didn't you, Ted? thought you said you found the bottom out there"
"I said I hadn't found the bottom out there, and I didn't find anything until I started up the side of the rat hut."
Now before anyone gets Worried we walked out of there and drove back to my house, and EVERYTIME we trap together one or both of us get wet. Anytime we get together to trap a new place or do something totally different at an old place, We GET WET. I've rolled canoes and been pulled out by Ted. He has been lifted out of canoes by branches and pulled out of the river by me, so this was just more of the usual. We both knew the ice was rotten and it wasn't safe to be out there, but there we were. There are no pictures of us when we do these things as we have learned that electronics and water don't work together.
we walk back to the truck commenting on how many times this has happened to us. Been trapping together since 1990 and we still haven't figured out why this happens to us. We don't have to be taking chances just walking along ground we have covered a hundred times and we get wet.
We got 18 traps out and caught a beaver and 2 rats.
