Good things come in threes...

Whoooo-yeah!!!!!

Lynx number three is hanging from the kitchen rafters, and I am riding another wave of giddiness.

'Twas another interesting day out there on the trapline. Man, it is wonderful to be able to say that... "out on the trapline." Once trapping gets in your blood, it can only be a matter of time until you dream of testing yourself against what Alaska has to offer. We have not seen even a glimpse of wolverine sign, but those, along with Ermine, are about the only furbearers here in AK that Sarah and I have not connected with this season. We have truly been blessed with a "mixed bag" of successes, and for that I am very thankful. That said, I must say that I am starting to think that of all the forms of trapper I can be, I think I would least mind becoming a Lynx trapper. I am not sure I can describe the feeling I get when walking up to one of them - and it matters not in the slightest that they are in a trap. Yeah, I can say words like 'majestic', 'beautiful', 'incredible', and even 'wild' - but they are not quite strong enough. To look into the eyes of a Lynx that you lured in and caught does something to you that I have never felt before having it occur. It just plain FIRES ME UP! Next year, if we are here, I am already planning on getting another dozen traps so that we can get out 18 sets instead of six.....

Anyway, enough about me - more about the Lynx. This one was a little more photogenic than the rest:


Here's what she did when I pulled the snare out of my pocket: :)


Now, in the event that any anti-trapping type folks have stumbled onto my blog (heh heh, WHOOPS on you!!!!!) I would like to post this pic to show just how distressed, worried, and utterly freaked out this Lynx was because she was in a trap:


uhm, yeah. We are both standing less than 30 feet from a WILD Lynx who is caught in a trap, and she's scratching her back in the snow, playing with a tree, and wiggling her tail. Now that's trauma! Moving on...

Here's one from a little closer that Sarah took - I really like this one:


Here's a shot of Sarah wearing her new Mountain Goat trapping hat that she finished sewing together last week:


And one of me with the spectacular creature that is Lynx canadensis:



The video of our check and the dispatch:


Here's a short clip of my crazy self on the way home. I was in rare form - and that's a camera under my coat - not a beer belly :)