Furbearer trapping in the Northeast Kingdom dates back to before Vermont was even a state. The coon-capped explorers of the 1700s entered a paradise of possibility, and their eagerness to obtain marketable fur pelts drove them into new lands. In the mid-1800s, natural history author Zadock Thompson admired Vermont’s export to Great Britain of some 5,000 muskrat pelts annually.

Over the decades, though, perceptions of the lives of wild mammals changed the practice and the traps themselves. Trap teeth have been eliminated and more humane versions introduced. Supported by the Vermont Trappers Association, mandatory education is now required. You can’t trap in Vermont without first learning how to minimize the hurt and fear of the animals and developing a respect for the environment and ecosystems.

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