My day starts at around 4:30. I get dressed, eat a quick breakfast, and round up all my water bottles and body armor drinks for the day. Charging my portable power bank is a must the night before so I can grab it in the morning. I want to be out the door by around 5 so I can be in the woods by 6 AM or earlier to beat the heat.
Me hanging up a bait bag filled with doughnuts
Now that I am actually running these hair snares I am able to tell you what it's like. I have anywhere from 10-5 snares to check a day in a variety of habitat types in Louisiana. I get to a snare site, I write down the info on this card and draw a picture of the site with the number of barbs on each side. Usually, we make them in triangle shapes with the barbed wire wrapped around 3 trees but some are with 4 as squares depending on size and trees in the area. Also, I write down the coordinates ESPECIALLY if the snare was moved. The site description is something like "It's dry, pine forest, thick understory, lots of rubus (3'-6' tall), mosquitoes are horrible, canopy cover is about 70%".
Blank paper work and collection bag on top of a map
As I count the barbs, I check diligently for hair, even just a single strand. So far I have had deer and raccoon- not what we are looking for but the bears in this area are part of the least dense population we have which is estimated at 40-90 bears. I may never get hair or it could be sparse or even constant we really don't know yet. If there is hair, we collect it with tweezers, as much as we can, then put that sample in the collection envelope and fill out the information; then burn the barb with a torch to sterilize it.
Marsh Mallow
I then rebait the snare with a new bag of doughnuts and put a tampon up on the string with it that is soaked in a raspberry scent attractant for bears. The bottle says they can smell it for miles away and we need that kind of powerful scent. Needless to say my work truck smells fantastic!
Then I repeat that cycle a bunch more times until I get all my sites finished for the day. It's a lot of unloading and loading the ATV, driving down dirt roads after rain just praying not to get stuck and looking at my GPS making sure I can even find the snares and not get lost in the woods. I am getting really good at it, too. Typically, I can check all my snares before lunch but then again I start work super early- my goal is to beat the heat of Louisiana Summers.
Ouachita River
My ATV
One of my favorite snare sites along the Ouachita River. It reminds me of the banks and bottomlands of the Sangamon river back home.
Me driving my ATV along a trail
I am really enjoying this job. I'm not going to lie the first few weeks was really tough. I was trying to acclimate to the heat and humidity, break down paths in thick rubus to get to my coordinates and flag out, because geez louise if you don't flag good then everything else is harder than it needs to be. You can see in the picture below all the pink flagging. I have orange flagging hanging out of my pocket at all times now because how important it is for a clear path to your snares. But now, I know where all my sites are, I know where to park, how to get to them, what water puddles to avoid because last week I sunk my ATV and got it stuck really bad. I got high centered, too a few times but now I know what to avoid. If you notice the good quality of these pictures it is because I got a new phone due to sinking the ATV- I drowned my old phone in the process of that.
Me baiting a square shaped snare in a young pine stand
Our church is doing a series called "Summer in the Psalms" it is amazing (link here). As I was reading the Bible last night I found MY Summer. in. the. Psalms. I can't be as dramatic as I wish to be in text but it is like I wrote it from what I have been going through. Psalms 40 (link here). No joke, in my Bible they have little facts and definitions of stuff, on that page where Psalm 40 started it said, "Snare: a trap to catch a bird or animal". The first bit of the Psalm talks about how I waited for God (for my job, for good things etc..) and though it may not seem like it (mainly when things get difficult) he heard me and answered me. Next verse is about being stuck in a slimy pit and he rescued me- guess what, I got stuck in a muddy mess of a water pit and got rescued out. He put a new song in my heart. At church a new song is being sung that gets so stuck in my head and I sing it while I work "I sought the LORD and he heard, and he answered. He will never fail, he will never fail." It is just too perfect to ignore. This Summer I hope to draw closer to God as I am working outside in his creation. I work by myself but I am never truly alone. I have to trust and rely on God to take care of me amidst the dangers of venomous snakes, flipping the ATV, bears, and all other dangers I may encounter. And he hasn't failed me, and he won't.
"I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him." -Psalm 40:1-3
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