Trapper loses privileges for violation

Trapper Larry Dickerson lost his trapping privileges for a year after entering a written plea of guilty to charges that he left traps unattended for over 72 hours, which is a violation of Wyoming Game and Fish regulations.Dickerson, 58, is a resident of Wapiti and is, according to Lovell’s game warden Jim Hobbs, a former employee of the U.S. Forest Service and with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. He is currently retired.According to Hobbs, who issued the citation, the situation was brought to his attention by another trapper who reported that a hunter had complained to him that his lion hunting dogs got caught in the traps, which were located north of Moncur Springs. Hobbs left his card on the traps and after he didn’t receive a response within a 72-hour time period, he set up a trail camera, which recorded Dickerson returning to the traps about 10 days later.“Ten days had passed and we had a picture of Mr. Dickerson on his ATV and that’s how we linked it all together,” explained Hobbs. “Since the two traps had different names on them, we weren’t sure if they belonged to Dickerson, someone else, or if they were stolen.”The trapping of fur-bearing animals like beaver, bobcat, coyotes, muskrat, raccoon and bobcat is strictly regulated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Trappers are required to check steel-jawed leg hold traps, like the ones left by Dickerson, every 72 hours in an effort to prevent undue suffering to the animal, explained Hobbs. Trappers will often scent the traps or use attractants to lure animals to the traps, but there are specific regulations regarding the baiting of traps. Trappers are also required to label the traps with their name or to place a Wyoming identification tag on the traps. One of the tags on the traps was traced back to Dickerson.“The idea of checking the traps is to first and foremost prevent any animal from suffering,” said Hobbs. “If you’re going to trap, that’s fine. It’s an activity a lot of people like to do in the winter, but there is no need to make the animal suffer by making it stay in the trap any longer than necessary. There’s no reason to cause any undue suffering, and I think that’s the primary reason for the law.”Since the lion hunting dogs had sprung the traps, no animals were caught in them during the investigation.According to court records, Dickerson did not appear in court for his sentence, which was signed by Judge Thomas Harrington in circuit court in Lovell on May 2. The judge fined Dickerson $40 and placed him on one year of probation in addition to suspending his trapping privileges for one full year.This is the first time Dickerson has been cited by the Game and Fish Dept. and Hobbs said the suspension of trapping privileges for someone like Dickerson, who enjoys trapping which can yield as much as $500 for a Bobcat pelt, was likely a far greater punishment than any fine that could have been imposed on him.“For any honest sportsman, who is trying to do things right, it is unfair when someone else is breaking the law like this,” said Hobbs. “It’s unfair if everyone else is held to the law and they’re not. That’s why we’re out there trying to keep everyone honest and also because it is ethical for the animals.”By Patti Carpenter