For the Love of Trapping

This is your last chance to leave

All right, I issued my warning a couple days ago. I will be sensitive no more. If the subject of animal trapping makes you cry, stop here and go watch The View. Anyway, this post is all for the love of trapping.

It goes like this…first, you are interested. Then, you collect. Finally, you have some much crap that you either throw it out…or, start a museum. I have written on this progression many times. There was the pencil sharpener museum… the troll museum…the barbershop museum…etc. But, when I met Ed, I met the best. As far as I know, Ed is the foremost expert and collector of animal trapping history. His museum has every trap known to man…and woman. Naturally, his museum also has about every different fur ever produced from these traps. If you want to see the collection, all you need to do is call Ed and set up an appointment. Ed’s museum costs you nothing and he will personally show you around simply for the love of trapping.

A Crap Load of Traps

Over the decades, Ed has accumulated over 4,000 traps in his collection. It’s truly shocking to see them all. Ed has them painstakingly divided into modern traps, European traps, Newhouse traps…whatever that is. I would like to explain all the subtle differences between all these traps, but frankly, I just do not remember. As Carol chatted and charmed Ed, I just basked in the shear volume of what I was seeing…

I have lots more pictures of traps. But, I realize there is a fine line between interesting and tedious redundancy. So, I will just leave it at…a crap load of traps.

OK, here comes the controversial part

Well, if you have traps, you are likely to have furs. Beyond the thousands of traps, there were furs of all sorts. Sometimes the fur came in the form of a pelts and sometimes complete taxidermy. Other times, the furs were already in coats, hats, blankets, and other useful items. Here is a sampling of Ed’s menagerie…

Thankfully, nothing was available for purchase. Therefore, no matter how much Carol thought about it…these coats were not an option…

Rats, mice, moles, armadillos…you name it

This is the type of blog post where I really need to reign myself in regarding all the pictures that I could post. I could go on and on with pictures of Ed’s stuff. It’s not just about big bear traps and fun furs. Rather, he has traps for mice, moles, and even armadillos. He even collects barbed wire. Here is my final sampling of stuff from Ed’s immense collection.

Ed knows his stuff

Beyond the vast collection of traps and furs, Ed considers himself an educator and conservationist. Ed publishes his own journal on trapping, as well as being contributing author in a couple other national trapping publications. He is not merely a collector. Rather, he still actively traps as the law allows. He is very adept at the entire fur preparation process. He can explain to you the importance of trapping to the early settling and development of this country. Despite the unpopular nature of trapping, Ed still contends that it is a very important tool to wildlife conservation worldwide. While I am sure some of you will not care for this post, I respect your right to disapprove. But, Ed is a good man that does it all for the love of trapping. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “For the Love of Trapping” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

If you found that offensive, maybe this offends you too https://travelingwithpt.com/going-low-key-at-big-pine-key/

If you want to learn more or set up an appointment with Ed, here you go http://traphistorymuseum.com/

p.s. Because of my need to be sensitive, I did not say anything about the section on baby seal trapping…