Marten, Weasel and Wolverine (count 163, count 2 and count 4 respectively...) season ends today - Lynx (count 2) ended February 15. There are a few that remain open anywhere from March 15th to May 31 - but none that we are really trapping - Squirrel, Otter, Beaver, Black Bear and Wolf. Any that are not mentioned are not abundant in the area. Tim and Paul are out collecting traps and boxes - it will be a long day! The trapline is 215km round trip - so even split up - it still means a great distance!
The owner of the trapline has only ever trapped with a dog team - can you imagine travelling those distances? He speaks very fondly though of those times and it sounds like it was quite enjoyable. The distances he travelled, and others we know that used to use dog team, are amazing. Of course it was not all done in one day and would have been broken up over several days - but I still think that would be quite a feat. Another thing that was mentioned was how much work keeping a dog team is, that it really is a full time job. The amounts of food needed to feed a team for a winter are also very large. Books I have read had the owners feeding the dogs 5 pounds a day each during working times (dried fish, moose, caribou - even cooked rice and oatmeal when meat was not abundant). We really do have it easy! It is amazing that back when people travelled by foot and by dog team - that nothing stopped them. If a trail needed to be made into somewhere for easy passage - one was made. Nowadays people pull up on a quad or snowmobile and if it isn't accessible with a machine under them - they turn around. This is a good thing, though - if not - there would be a lot of useless destruction of forests, etc.
The "caribou people" are in the area starting today. I am hoping we will hear about where they are and what their numbers are like. My kids are just wanting to see the helicopter! They fly low enough that they can get a good look at it.
It is a strange time if year here. It feels warm enough that it almost seems like spring is coming, yet we know from the calendar that there is still a long way to go! Tim was here last June when the ice went off the lake and there was still a lot of snow around - so we know how long it is capable of staying. We are told by the locals that this is an exceptionally bad year for lack of snowfall. I hope that Mother Nature makes up for it in the next few months! As far as we can see into the forecast right now though - there is nothing but warm weather and the only precipitation called for is rain, and yes it rains even up here in the winter! I am hoping for one of those movie portrayed blizzards where the wind picks up and howls all night long and it snows for days! It is OK to hope for that at the lake - no one has to drive out and if we do have to go anywhere - the more snow, the better for the snowmobiles!
The kids got to have a "treat" (they think) that they haven't had in a long while - store bought bread. There was some left over from the snowmobile trip that the guys had brought in, and grilled cheeses made on it yesterday brought rave reviews! There were also grapes and bananas brought in that have been treated like candy. We have more candy stashed than we can stash fresh fruit - so now that becomes the treat. Isn't that strange...
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