Winter Waxing Cold Moon
Got to the stock show at about 7:30 am today. I was early enough that there was no one checking passes or tickets, exhibitioners had not yet come and there was only one place serving food. And it hadn’t opened for business.
Reminded me of the trips I used to take to the Indiana State Fair with my mom. We went by Greyhound Bus because Mom never learned to drive. That’s strange, isn’t it? Just resurfaced as I wrote this. Because of the Greyhound schedule we would get to the State Fair before the crowds. Clean up crews would still be sweeping up from the night before and stock exhibitors would be getting their animals ready. It’s a good memory and one I was happy to revisit.
While I admired a badger pelt, the man who trapped it came out and we got to talking. He explained a host of unintended consequences from such things as eliminating the spring bear hunt and limiting trappers in what they can do.
Colorado’s Dept. of Wildlife now kills as nuisance bears the same number as bear hunting did. When the bears were hunted, the populations stayed steady, but with no hunting pressure and the growth of outlying development, bear numbers have skyrocketed. According to this guy, who seemed very balanced. The result is bears forced to forage in urban areas or suburbs because the wild territories have dominant adult animals in them.
In addition, this guy, a trapper who lives in Summit County, where Breckenridge is, said when he began trapping there were few to no raccoons in the whole county because winter was cold and long, eliminating food sources for enough of the year that it was not good habitat for them. Summit raccoons are now abundant, “You should see a mid-winter Breck raccoon, lotsa fur and fat.”
He makes his living trapping nuisance animals, mostly wild animals living high off pet food, garbage dumps and even purposeful feeding. Animals that, again according to him, could still be managed by trapping as it was practiced.
I watched Simmental Cattle judging and a junior showmanship event for hogs. As the place began to fill up, I packed up my purchases, boarded the bus and came back here for a nap.
