We met with Trapper Joe today. He walked the entire shoreline while I wrapped up laying out logistics with my excavator and the power company guru for our garage project.
Anyway, Joe the trapper came back from his hike and confirmed we gots rats. As I mentioned, this is all new to me, so you seasoned rat experts have to bear with me while I share some of the things he told me. As always, there might be another rat neophyte out there that might have use for it.
They're preparing to rear young right now. He told me that he wished that I would have called him last fall. I didn't understand, as we continued to talk. He said last season, rat pelts were going for anywhere from $4 to upwards of $10 each, but the market swings like the stock market. He asked me if we could wait until fall for him to trap. He said that they weren't into the dam, but definitely along the low shorelines at 2 distinct areas. I reminded him that I had permission from the State wildlife biologist and the Game Warden to trap right now. Why wait? He said their pelts are worthless right now. They won't grow into their valuable fur coats until it gets closer to fall/winter. He said that if we really wanted them trapped, he would do it anyway, noting that he doesn't charge for any trapping; pay is keeping the critters. He also added that trapping this time of year is useless to him, but he will to keep a customer happy, and that he would accept "donations", but they are not required/expected. I could sense his desire to put me on his circuit as a regular. Quite frankly, based on this guy's references from trusted locals, I think I would like to be on his list.
By now, it dawns on me that he wants those little varmints to multiply and start growing more fur coats for him to harvest this fall. I told him I wanted them gone now, but assured him that I saw continuing need for his services and that this could become a regular gig for him when it is more profitable. This is what he wanted to hear...and it works for me, too. He is pretty tight with the GW. He said that he wouldn't have any time in the next couple of weeks (other commitments) and that he wanted to run it by the GW as a courtesy. I told him that since the pelts had no value and he was putting time and effort into it, we could come up with a nominal "per rat" value that I would pay him. I dropped the number $5 per rat. He was receptive. He's gonna take care of his business and let me know the plan in the next week or two.
Since we have had so much rain over the recent weeks, my water visbility is about 6". He said that it would be difficult for him to find the submerged den entry holes, but he has floating traps that work kinda like a minnow trap...except for rats. He noted that he has hundreds of different types of traps for all special occassions.
He also reminded me that another of his specialties is coon trapping.
