When I was a kid, one of my favorite places to go in Vinton, Iowa was Byrd's Hardware. The place was amazing with guns, ammo, tools, nails, fishing hooks and old-style fish casting reels, kerosene lamps, bale hooks, scythes, and garden tools hung from every wall and shelf. Deep in the dark basement, in a separate cubby-hole, was dynamite and cord. Against the wall next to the dynamite room were cartons of steel traps, sizes #0 to #3, for weasels to "wolves" which were really coyotes. Byrd's had it all. Byrd died, and the store closed about 1964.

The mass merchandisers since the 1960's have severely changed the way hardware is sold. The old local general hardware store with all available items is long gone, replaced by the Home Depots, Lowe's, and Wal-Marts where you can buy whatever everyone else has and get none of the old-time specialty stuff that is so crucial to the business of the anachronisms who are left.

Basic trapping gear is not expensive, lasts for many years, and takes some of the frustration out of sheep protection. Trap stakes, connector, pan cover, soil sifter, digging tool, hammer, kneeling cloth, carrying bucket, and a selection of lures are all that is needed.

Trappers and flockmasters are anachronisms in this modern mega-buck society. It is a struggle to find the things we need to stay in business.

What we did when the Byrd Hardware stores closed up was to stubbornly continue and grudgingly adapt. All of the specialty stuff we need is still being made somewhere, but to find it we need to go to the magazines and information outlets produced by us anachronisms. sheep! is a great example.

There has been a long-time dispute over what the first several professions of humanity were. Being a student of this sort of historical speculation, let me suggest that fur trapping was the first profession. With the pelts and meat, the trappers could barter for the favors of the second oldest profession-lady's favors. To arbitrate disputes between these two groups, lawyers were naturally the third profession. It did not take long before the smarter trappers figured out that corralling and breeding sheep was a lot more steady work than chasing them with spears and twisted bark snares, thus the fourth profession was born.

Sheep folks found it necessary to pray a lot and sacrifice on stone altars to keep their flocks in proper health so the fifth profession-the clergy-was developed. Of course, these five professions are central to the health and survival of the human race today, whether the computer nerds know it or not.

To stay in business, three of the first five professions have maintained a close association and interdependence. Sheep men either need to know how to trap and hunt predators, or they need to hire people who do.

When a lamb is killed by a predator, immediate action is needed. It makes sense when the flockmaster can immediately set snares, traps, and/or use a predator call and rifle to eliminate the beast before it eats another sheep the next night. If a neighbor can hunt and trap predators all the better, but it is not the best to count on them. Nobody is going to work to save your sheep like you will.

Coyote tracks have a distinctive oval shape, usually showing claw marks and four toes. Be able to identify the killer. Tracks are often present at a kill.

Government trappers, if available, are busy and choked down with bureaucratic rules that drive them and woolgrowers nuts. At best, they can get to your place quickly and stop the predation. On average, it takes them a while.

Private trappers are often quick and effective, but their abilities vary quite a bit so check them out and be sure they can deliver before hiring them. Private trappers are generally expensive because they have to earn money for their time, skill, materials, and travel costs.

The gist of it is simple-flockmasters need to know the basic skills of trapping, snaring, and predator calling/shooting to keep predation losses low.

An often-heard question on my phone is "Where can I get it?" You can look in lots of stores and not find traps, snares, and other predator control supplies.

The following are lists of current reliable sources of predator control supplies, instructions on how to use them, and sources for help. It would be a good idea to save this issue of sheep! so you can pull this information out when you need it.

Snaring Supply Dealers:

• Fur Country Lures, John Graham, Box 175, Jordan, MT 59337
• A. M. Grawe, Box 306, Wahpeton, ND 58074
• Keith Gregerson, 15 Arrowhead Road, Roundup, MT 59072
• Northern Sport Co., 9191 Leavitt Road, Elyria, OH 44035
• PDK Snares, 8631 Hirst Road, Newark, OH 43055
• Rocky Mountain Fur Co., 14950 Highway 20/26, Caldwell, ID 83607
• The Snare Shop, Neil & Rhonda Bock, 858 E. U.S. Hwy. 30, Caroll, IA 51401
• Thompson Steel Snares, sinrud@raymondthompson.com

Coyote trapping lures and baits are essential to efficient catching. The lures shown are Carman lures set up with a Q-tip, and a buried trap on each side. That is all you need.

Sources Of Predator Baits And Lures:

See general trap and ADC supply sources. Note: Carman, O'Gorman, Miller, Laugeman, and Grahams lures are excellent.

Predator Calls And Instructions:

• Crit'R·Calls: Rocky Mountain Wildlife Products, PO Box 999, LaPorte, CO 80535. Phone 877-484-2768. Call for a catalog.
• Burnham Brothers, PO Box 427, Menard, TX 76859. Phone: 325-396-4572.

Magazines With Predator Control Supply Ads And Instructional Articles:

• The Trapper and Predator Caller. Circulation Dept. ABAU33. 700 E. State Street, Iola, WI 54990. Phone: 800-258-0929. (This is your best source).
• Wildlife Control Technology, AJE Publications, PO Box 480, Cortland, IL 60112. Phone: 815-286-3039.
• American Trapper Magazine, National Trappers Association, 4111 East Starr Avenue, PO Box 632018, Nacogdoches, TX 75963. Phone: 936-569-6444.

Sources Of Trapping, Snaring, And General Predator Control Supplies:

• M&M Fur Co., PO Box 15, Bridgewater, SD 57319. Phone: 800-658-5554 or 605-729-2535. General supplies, catalog.
• S. Stanley Hawbaker and Sons, PO Box 309, Fort Loudon, PA 17224. General supplies, catalog.
• The Snare Shop, 858 East US Hwy. 30, Carroll, IA 51401. Phone: 712-792-0600, sshop@win-4-u.com. Snares and general supplies, catalog.
• Montgomery Fur Co., 1539 W. 3375 S., Ogden, UT 84401. Phone: 801-394-4686. General supplies, Bridger traps.
• J.C. Conner, 7522 Mt. Zion Cemetery Road, Newcomerstown, OH 43832. Phone: 740-498-6822. www.jcconner. com. Drags, traps, trap modification kits.
• O'Gorman Enterprises, PO Box 491, Broadus, MT 59317. Phone: 406-436-2234. General trap supplies.
• Duffers, PO Box 9, Bern, KS 66408. Phone: 785-336-3901. duffers@mewlan. com. Electronic flashing devices.
• Minnesota Trapline Products, 6699 156th Avenue, Pennock, MN 56279. Phone: 320-599-4176. info@minntrapp rod.com. General supplies, quality traps, catalog.
• Sterling Fur Co., 11268 Frick Road, Sterling, OH 44276. Phone: 330-939-3763. General trap supplies.
• Northern Sport Co., 9191 Leavitt Road, Elyria, OH 44035. Phone: 440-986-3366. www.molnaroutdoor.com. General trap supplies.
• Schmitt Enterprises, PO Box 44, New Ulm, MN 56073. Phone: 507-359-4149. www.schmittent.com. General trap supplies.
• Reid Aiton, PO Box 84, Korbel, CA 95550. Phone: 707-496-5298. California cage traps.
• R-P Outdoors, PO Box 1170, Mansfield, LA 71052. Phone: 800-762-2706. www.rpoutdoors.com. General trap supplies.
• Fur Country Lures and Supplies, John Graham, PO Box 175, Jordan, MT 59337.

Books On How To Deal With ADC Problems:

• Rocky Mountain Wildlife Products provides general ADC information, trapping, snaring, and M-44 instructions for use. (See contact information above.)
• Check your local county extension office for free state-specific ADC recommendations.

There are many local trapping supply companies and sources not listed in this article. However, advertising and contact information for many of these companies can be found in the periodicals listed in the "Magazines With Predator Control Supply Ads ..." section (above).

Many equipment manufacturers and professional private trappers are available to give training programs and demonstrations to woolgrower organization meetings. Contact the companies directly.

Steel traps of the highest quality are still the best all-around predator control tool. The Sterling MJ-600 is the best. The Victor 3N and traps similar to these brands are recommended.

The Fur Takers of America conduct a week-long Trappers College each fall at LaGrange, Indiana which is the best all-around basic education you can get about using traps, snares, and calls for predation control. Contact Charlie Park, 410 So. Poplar Street, LaGrange, IN 46761. Phone: 260-463-2072.

Being successful in the future of the sheep or trapping business is going to require a great deal of ingenuity, persistence, and adaptability. More of us will be dealing with coyotes, black bear, cougars, and timber wolves with less freedom to do it. Our urban society does not have much sympathy for the farmer and livestock man's plight when it comes to wildlife damage.

The Endangered Species Act, Bald Eagle Act, state and federal humane treatment laws, Environmental Protection Act, FIFRA, and a plethora of state wildlife laws and regulations give de facto rights to wildlife, over and above your rights. In most cases, there is no compensation for your losses and basically no reasonable or legal solution.

In my opinion, that stinks, but both national political parties have bought into this "sky is falling," wildlife jeopardy line-dance, which leaves us in a dilemma. No matter who is elected to office, trappers, hunters, and livestock folks suffer the burdens of the wildlife protections. That is unlikely to change.

In Colorado, we had parents of an 18-year-old kid who was killed and eaten by a mountain lion say that if it had to happen, they were glad, and thought he would be glad, that the lion chose their son. In that case I'm glad too that the lion ate their son and not mine! It is nice to have something for which to be thankful.

Text & illustrations ©2003 by Major L. Boddicker. Dr. Boddicker is in demand world-wide as the foremost authority on predator control techniques for the protection of livestock, endangered species, and human populations. He is the top private wildlife-damage control agent throughout the Great Plains states of the U.S. For more information contact Rocky Mountain Wildlife Products.