The Sanctity of Private Land Ownership

"Even if it's on his property, the animal actually belongs to the Queen or the Crown, which collects a royalty when the animal is harvested and sold.
"People like to watch beavers playing around in the water, but it's interesting how their attitude changes when Bucky cuts down the tree they planted for their first anniversary or their favourite birch. You know what I'm saying?"
Robin Horwath, general manager, Ontario Fur Managers Federation

"I wish someone would have informed us, given us a warning, something, instead of sending the storm troopers here.
"When we bought the property, we bought it for the wildlife. And now there is very little of that. Very little beaver, there are no muskrat, there are no otters.
"I have no idea, especially since this beaver is on my property [how it can be viewed as a nuisance, by a "nuisance trapper"]. I'm the only one to determine what a nuisance is [on my land]. See what I'm saying?"
Jonce Straklevski, Perth-area resident

 

Beavers can be viewed as a nuisance, as they can dam up culverts, resulting in flooded roadways and damaged infrastructure. Rural townships often rely on contract ‘nuisance’ trappers to control their populations.  Photograph by: Debra Ceravolo , Reader Photo, Ottawa Citizen

Imagine you're a nature-lover and you decide to proceed with making the dream of a lifetime a reality. Although you work in the Ottawa area, you've decided that it's important for you personally to live in a secluded woodland setting along the shoreline of the Upper Mississippi River. That imperative of an inclination to proceed must have occurred to Jonce Straklevski, so he bought 110 acres in a wooded area. And there he raises chickens and ducks.

During his five-year residency he has observed many changes.  Over the years he has seen and had the privilege of watching muskrat and beaver at work, identifying their clever-branch-built homes at the side of the river. He has seen deer and bear, raccoons and coyotes and even the occasional moose, at his home in the marvellous Lanark Highlands. He must have felt he had discovered his very own personal paradise within Nature's precincts.

And then came his rude awakening when he noticed near a beaver lodge close to the river's edge on his property an odd-appearing object sticking out of the water. When he looked closer to satisfy his curiosity he realized the stake he had seen was anchoring a trap. He did some more sleuthing and lo and behold on his property at the side of the river, there were more traps; nine on his side and two others on the other side.

He made enquiries with a friend who is a trapper and that friend educated him. Informing him that in Ontario the written permission of a landowner is required to enable trappers to legally lay down trap lines. No one had approached him to speak with him to explain his wish, as a trapper, to set down traps for the purpose of hunting the animals that happened to live in and around his private property.

Had anyone done so it would be highly unlikely that Mr. Straklevski might have thought that to be a good idea, consonant with his core values and fervent appreciation of nature.

And then he came across the trapper fromwhom he asked to see proof of his right to hunt/trap animals along the shore of the river, abridging his property. The hunter expressed no interest in providing Mr. Straklevski with any documentation, since the simple fact was that he had none to show. He hadn't done the fair and legal due diligence of approaching the land owner for permission to set his traps.

That being the case, Mr. Straklevski asserted what he took to be his property rights and removed all eleven of the traps. "The police show up at my door, make me feel like a crook", he said in an interview. Placed in the back of an OPP cruiser like any felon, he was charged with criminal mischief and theft under $5,000. For committing an offence he had no knowledge of, in asserting his rights as a property owner.

The charges were later dropped. That happened in early spring. A justice of the peace a few days ago ruled that the traps were legal. Despite the muskrats and beavers living their lives on private property in low-water seasons, they were susceptible to legal trapping in the province, and Mr. Straklevski had to plead guilty to "interfering" with lawful trapping.

Through the process of his ordeal he discovered that there are about 1,700 non-native trappers in eastern Ontario, representing an industry where revenue to trappers from fur auctions accounted for $14.50-million in 2012. Rural townships are accustomed to viewing the presence of beavers as a nuisance, damming culverts which then causes flooded roadways and damaged infrastructure.

To remove the animals the trapping skills of "nuisance hunters" is relied upon.

A supervisor of enforcement with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources urges landowners with concerns about traps to contact their offices. He claimed that licensed trappers are not required to produce credentials to members of the public, but mentioned nothing of the requirement that they seek permission from landowners to access their land to set traps.

Photograph by: Jane Szepesi, Reader Photo, Ottawa Citizen

 

Although there are several thousand registered traplines on Crown land in Ontario, there are also hundreds of "unregistered" lines on private property. And with that reality comes consequences such as the safety of domestic pets whom a landowner should have a right to feel are safe on property he or she owns. But the reality is that dogs have wandered into those lethal traps that kill them.

Credit to Ottawa Citizen reporter Kelly Egan for providing these details