FOOTLOOSE MONTANA
Promoting trap-free public lands for people, pets & wildlife_______________
November’s end 2007 www.footloosemontana.org
In this issue:
***Trapped Pet Release Workshop in Kalispell tomorrow, 12/1
***Footloose Friday at Bayern Brewery! 12/7 (purchase Footloose gear!)
***Our latest footwork: Hamilton workshop
***Footloose Montana in the news
***A Bad Time to Bear Fur, Part 2 plus…wolverine notes
***Trapping season request
TRAPPED PET RELEASE WORKSHOPS
Arm yourself with knowledge before you and your best friend head out onto your public land for hiking, hunting, skiing, whatever gets you out there. Workshops provide an overview of trapping in Montana, first aid tips for dealing with trap injuries, and plenty of opportunity to familiarize yourself with snares and foothold and body-crushing traps, how they work, and how to release them. Our workshops are a free, public service (donations gladly accepted—we do have associated costs), but in this season of Thanksgiving, we ask that you bring a can of food (human or pet) for contribution to a food bank.
Kalispell: Saturday 1 December 2007; 1:00-3:00 pm; Community College, 777 Grandview
Science and Admin. Building, Blake Hall, Board Room 144
Check our web site for additional workshops as they are scheduled.
ACH, DU LIEBER, IT’S FOOTLOOSE FRIDAY AT BAYERN!
Come meet your Footloose friends at Bayern, Missoula’s own German micro-brewery (1507 Montana St., just west of Russell) on Friday 7 December 2007 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Brew-meister Juergen and fiancée Melissa will donate to Footloose Montana $ .50 from each pint sold, so join us for a brew (or an espresso drink or other non-alcoholic beverage) at this friendly get-together. Our beer of choice? St. Wilbur Weizen, named for a rescued and adopted St. Bernard (read his story here http://www.bayernbrewery.com/st_wilbur.htm ) We’ll have our classy Footloose Montana t-shirts and caps available for your holiday gift-buying convenience. Ja!
HAMILTON WORKSHOP: SMALL BUT ENTHUSIASTIC
November 18th…Sunday afternoon and the weather was rapidly heading south, yet a small but hardy group showed up to learn the trap-release skills necessary to rescue their dogs. They told stories of trapped pet crises and expressed gratitude to Footloose Montana. Said one Stevensville participant in a subsequent note: “Kudos on an excellent workshop in Hamilton. Although only a handful of folks came out, we very much appreciated the workshop and got a lot out of it. Thanks again—you’re doing great work.” Thanks for the feedback!
FOOTLOOSE MONTANA FEATURED IN RAVALLI REPUBLIC; KECI-TV
KECI-TV from Missoula sent a crew to Hamilton to cover the workshop; they put together a great piece that aired on the evening news. The reporter was the same one who covered the tragic story of Cupcake, the border collie who died in a Conibear trap at a Rock Creek recreation site last March. The news segment revisited footage of that story as the impetus for the formation of Footloose Montana.
The Hamilton workshop was also covered in an excellent article in the Ravalli Republic—read it here:
http://www.ravallirepublic.com/articles/2007/11/30/outdoors/03outdoors.txt
A BAD TIME TO BEAR FUR, PART 2
The cruelty of trapping and the extreme suffering of wild animals continues and increases on our citizen-owned lands with the advent of December. As of 12/1, trapping season begins for four more “furbearers”: bobcat, marten, fisher, and wolverine. (Trapping for otter, muskrat, and mink started November 1st; for beaver, 11/1 in three trapping districts, and 9/1 in four trapping districts. To locate the trapping district you live in, visit http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/trapping/default.html and click on 2007 Furbearer Regulations under Regulations & Quotas. Scroll down to page 9.) Quotas are established for four animals: bobcat, otter, fisher, and wolverine.
WOLVERINE? Yes. Montana is the only state in the lower 48 to allow the trapping of this rare, sensitive species, which trappers consider trophy animals. The quota for the three special wolverine management units (map on page 11 at the previous link) is ten—which is, in our opinion, ten too many. This elusive creature is poorly-understood; the state’s population and its genetics are not well-studied, and trapping mortality is a severe impediment to wolverine research. Add habitat loss and pressure from motorized incursions, and Gulo gulo is skating on thin ice in our state. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks lists the wolverine as a “Species of Concern,” at the same time allowing wolverine trapping. WHY??? To learn more about this fascinating, native Montana resident, visit http://www.wolverinefoundation.org/index.htm
FOR THE WILD ONES…AND THE NOT-SO-WILD…trap-free public lands
A wild animal’s last minutes, hours, days on this Earth are ones of anguish and untold suffering if that unfortunate creature found his or her way into a trap. Why should Montana’s public lands—YOUR land—play host to this cruelty? Tens of thousands of traps are set by a few thousand trappers whose money-for-fur quest robs all of us—the wild ones of their lives, citizens of our peace of mind, and with growing frequency, our companion dogs of their well-being if not their lives. Footloose Montana’s vow: We will educate the public about the cruelty and danger of the trapping menace through our mission—promoting trap-free public lands for people, pets & wildlife. We need you as our partner. Please join the growing ranks of Footloose Montana members and contributors. Visit www.footloosemontana.org and click on “join us” for a downloadable membership form. And thank you—from the bottom of our wild and not-so-wild hearts!
For a compassionate and footloose future,
Your friends at Footloose Montana
