Got one without setting a trap lol

[nube]

So I went to check a few ponds today with some past rat activity previously and I found a few huts. I took a handful of traps that I was going to set and one of the huts I opened up and there was a tail sticking out of the water. Weird I thought so I pulled it out and it was a dead jumbo rat!!! I rolled him in the snow and pulled on the fur a bit and didn't pull many hairs out so I think it is good. Not sure what it died from. Not sure whether to skin it up or not but I think I might give it a go and see if it is rotten or not.


Last year I was checking traps and driving down the road after freezup. All of a sudden on the gravel road in front of me a rat started running down the road in the snow. I laughed and went on the chase for my fee rat.

Anyone else ever catch anything without setting a trap?

[HunterDave]

Congrats Nube! I'd be extra careful handling it in case of Tularemia or Giardia. Just sayin.....

[Torkdiesel]

Last year in January I was headed out to check marten traps and a rat was running down the road away from my pickup. I hoped out and he jumped halfway into a snow bank but couldn't get fully hidden because the snow was hard. He was miles away from a slough so I through him in a burlap bag and drove him to the river north of my line and let him go. Felt bad for the little guy. Some Trapper eh lol

[Battle Rat]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Congrats Nube! I'd be extra careful handling it in case of Tularemia or Giardia. Just sayin.....

I think it is tularemia that causes the big die offs following high populations cycles.
I found a beaver about a hundred yards from his pond one January too.
Must not have put up a big enough feed bed.

[Ticdoc]

Nube
Tularemia might be something to consider. Here a couple pics from a beaver I found dead at edge of frozen slough, hidden under some weeds, snow. You will see urine-coloured fluid in abdominal cavity too.

With rat numbers being high, at least around Edmonton region, a tularemia outbreak is certainly a possibility.

Just a thought.
ticdoc

[nube]

Maybe best to chuck it then. I was a little afraid to dig into it and it really isn't worth getting sick. I will do some research but does anyone know much about the desiese? I trapped this slough last year and was surprised to see so many push ups this year again. Maybe the population isn't that bad after you trap the heck out of them as more move in.

Edit: I read for 30 seconds and the thing is going in the garbage. Doesn't sound very good at all!!! Thanks for the heads up on that one.

[pointer]

I pick up a couple every year in our yard at work and driving around they like to find their way out when it warms up for a couple days and the chase is on

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by nube

Maybe best to chuck it then. I was a little afraid to dig into it and it really isn't worth getting sick.

Skinning it should be no more of a problem than one you have caught. Just use normal precautions, wear gloves, don't pick your nose or suck your thumb while skinning and if you knick yourself while skinning wash immediately with a disinfectant. The disease is serious but very treatable with antibiotics. And yes I have had tularemia due to my own neglect to disinfect immediatly upon knicking myself when skinning a fresh caught rat. The facts are, many of the rats you catch in a heavily populated pond will often have tularemia. It's just one of many normal hazards faced by trappers.

[HunterDave]

I'd skin it if the pelt was good. Who knows how many live rats you've handled that had it but it just didn't progress enough to kill them. The manual says that major die offs from tularemia is associated with the stresses of over population. Ya might have too many rats where you're trapping Nube....lol!

[Ticdoc]

I agree with Tomcat. A little caution during skinning and you should be fine. Avoid nicks and it you get a small cut, wash immediately. Should not be a problem. If you google this bacterial infection you'ii find that it is usually transmitted by ticks. That is true for other hosts like rabbits, but the infection in beaver and muskrats is transmitted in the water (probably faecal contamination). Beaver and muskrats die quickly which is why they are often in great condition. When they become ill they often hide in vegetation next to the slough.
While not common in trappers, infection to man happens. Again, illness occurs quickly with these clinical signs:
•A skin ulcer that forms at the site of infection
•Swollen and painful lymph glands
•Fever
•Chills
•Headache
•Exhaustion
So, usual kind of stuff. As Tomcat says.....easy to diagnose and easily treated with antibiotics.

ticdoc

[herc]

i actually got a mink this year without a trap. Went for a walk down by the river to check possible trap locations. Bugger was lying there right on the trail. Weirdest thing is he was still warm but dead as a doorknob.