A Beaverin' excursion...

First, I would like to say that we have often been asked "How do you take Ada out in the cold?" It has been thirty below here lately most days. So, this morning, we prepared for the long snowmachine ride by having Sarah bundle up the Mooshkabear. What does Ada Moo look like when she's bundled up for a ride in the back of the snowmachine? She looks like this:


LOL!

So anyway, we saddled up and ran down to St. Mary's, where we would cross the Yukon and check four beaver lodges for a total of seven sets. The trip was actually horrible. Nothing but windswept ice (hardly any snow) all the way. We were actually worrying about the machine overheating it was so bad. Bumpy, hard, unforgiving ice, ready to throw you over on your side at any time. For 25 miles, one way.

The beavers started out by really not cooperating. The first lodge (two sets) was a goose-egg. Damn! Two sets set off, and one had a stick in it, so we should have had 'em. At the second lodge, nothing on the first set. Crap! Got to the fourth set, and, the trap was set off, but felt like nothing there, as we were pulling it up. Then, a head appeared and I struggled to get out the camera. The following scene unfolded:






WOW!!! He's freakin' huge! I thought. Sarah was kidding about falling down, but not entirely about the exhausted part. Once you shovel off the snow and re-chip the hole in the ice, it's work to pull out those piglets. Especially when they weigh 50 lbs! That's right, 50 lbs. Plus! :


That's a basswood fox stretcher he's balanced on for the weigh-in. It weighs no more than 2 pounds max, and that's on the high end. And as you can see, the scale says it all:





Awesome! It was a great day for memories, even though we got skunked on the rest of the sets. We came home with a lot of marten and lynx bait though, so it was productive. Another great day on the trapline. I will try and add more details tomorrow - it was a long day. Check back in for the stories, I will try and get them on in the pm if I can.....