Bobcat Rescued from Illegal Strangling Snare

April 4, 2012 - In February we received a call about a bobcat caught in an illegally set strangling snare on private property. We immediately rushed to the location and found an adult male bobcat caught around the torso. He had been trapped for about 12 hours.

Fortunately we got there in time to save his life by restraining him and cutting him free. We were rewarded by his immediate race for freedom, and—amazingly—we caught all this on video. This footage, available on YouTube in a two-part series titled "Bobcat Rescued from Snare," will be an important tool in bringing about essential trapping reform and we will be sharing it broadly.

• Watch the bobcat's dramatic rescue

• Hear reflections on the rescue and take a look at the future of trapping

Freedom, the bobcat, had been caught
around the torso in this strangling
snare for about 12 hours. Every move
he made tightened the snare. VIDEO

While this bobcat was released unharmed, most animals caught in snares and traps die from strangulation, blood loss, starvation, dehydration, or exposure to the elements and predation from other animals like dogs. They suffer terrible agony for days and often chew off the foot the trap is gripping to get free. One such coyote with a missing foot from a previous trap injury was found dead in the OSU fence line. Read OSU story

It is outrageous that the USDA Wildlife Services program and a small number of trappers nationwide can endanger our pets and wildlife, let alone public safety. It’s time for comprehensive, nationwide trapping reform.

How You Can Help

In Oregon: Predator Defense and other organizations are petitioning the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to institute new rules to safeguard the public and protect animals from barbaric traps and snares. Changes would require that all traps be checked within 24 hours, that warning signs be posted, and that snares and traps be set away from trails and publicly used areas. Please contact the following decision-makers and ask them to support the petitioned changes:

• Governor Kitzhaber - (503) 378-4582, governor.oregon.gov/Gov/contact.shtml
• Fish & Wildlife Commission - odfw.commission@state.or.us
  
  

In Other States: We will help launch similar efforts to those in Oregon, including ballot measures, to ban trapping in other states. Please contact your state legislators and ask them to support efforts to safeguard the public and protect animals from barbaric traps and snares.

After covering the bobcat with
a blanket, Brooks Fahy used wire
cutters to release it from the snare.
VIDEO

Nationwide: A bill we have worked on for years that would ban the use of two indiscriminate wildlife poisons, M-44s and Compound 1080, was reintroduced in Congress in March 2012. Please contact your U.S. Representative and ask him/her to support H.R. 4214. Details

Contribute: You can also help us expand our efforts to save native predators and stop illegal hunting, trapping, and extensive predator-killing programs by making a financial contribution to Predator Defense. We are a grassroots organization operating on a shoestring budget. Your contributions make all the difference by enabling us to get the word out and build support. Any amount helps. Please donate today.