The first check of the Gulo set....

So.  One of the hardest things to do when trapping is to wait to go check your sets.  Though you can't help but want to be out there checking every possible moment of every day - you generally can't.  That doesn't stop me from losing sleep and going crazy when I have a set that I just 'feel' is going to connect, or has a good chance of doing so.  The first ever Gulo set was no exception.  As the tracks were so fresh, I thought that there was just a chance, no matter how small - that the wolverine was close enough to the set that he /she may smell the lure and come back.  For that reason I thought a two-day check wait would tell me whether that was a possibility or whether I would likely have to wait until they next 'make the rounds'.  Waiting from Monday til Wednesday was one of the hardest things I've ever done in trapping season.  :)  But, at last, the time came, and I headed out to check...

To start with, I had marten visit every set I had out for them!  An incredible two days, for sure.  Must have been a lot of movement during/right after the snowstorm of Tuesday - based upon track evidence.   I mentioned in the last post that I would get pics of the marten sets, but I had brought the video camera this time (in case of a wolverine visitor).

The first segment of this video shows one of the marten remakes, with flowerpot, as they had visited the coni-mount sets, bypassed the trap and got the bait - and even chewed on the wing, too!  Hah!
Anyway, this clip shows the remake and the tracks which tell the tale.  If the text is hard to read because of speed, just pause the clip at the right time.  After the clip of a marten set is the footage of the wolverine check - AS IT happened.  A moment I will never forget.  :)  There will be more fun stuff below.....


Here's some pics of the day as well:

A shot of the bucket investigator:

Sure glad it was a perfect neck-catch instant kill, and it didn't crush any ribs - would have had green belly for sure with these warm temps.

The Marten-slaying Klondike Call.  Thanks to Dobbins Lures!!!!  A fantastic lure that works for most anything up here.


A marten remake, with the 'killer' lure, the product of a good set, and the 'insurance' I carry on the line.  Always remember to set your firearm down.  Whether or not you set it down in the picture is up to you.  :D


Here's a shot of the remake at the wolverine bucket set.  Marten set complete with hanging wing at right, wolvy bucket front and center, and there is a bedded Sleepy Creek 4.5 longspring in the 'flat area to the left of the bucket, where the critter 'trail' goes around the tree to the left...


We'll see what happens, but we should be ready for anything now.....

As for the catches...The marten caught in the bucket set happened to be a female, and so I saw an opportunity for us to  dissect the little beauty and use it as a learning tool, in the hopes of seeing an example of their "delayed-implantation", or their ability to have eggs fertilized in mid summer during breeding season, but not implant to the uterine wall and begin developing until around February.  When a female is caught, I find it worth checking to see if developing young can be seen in the fallopian tubes.  That said, if my catch rate goes up to close in on 100% females at any point, I will pull my traps from that area, because you are technically pulling 2-6+ marten from the area every time you catch a 'pregnant' female, obviously.  Think for the future. :)

To illustrate the topic of developing young in the uterine horns, check out this picture, taken from Trapperman.com, courtesy of "Family Trapper".  It shows four young forming in a female caught in March of the year, some time back:


Anyway, we dissected my marten female in science class this morning and found some interesting stuff out about her...

First of all, All that dark matter at left was from her stomach, which was stretched about as large as any marten stomach I've ever seen. It almost would have held my fist!   And she was STILL hungry enough to go after my set!!!...evidently....


Inside all that stuff, which appeared to be entirely a mouse/vole/shrew diet, we found some teeth, a LOT of fur, and not many identifiable bones...but there were two 'hands' in there:
Left...


And Right:


Also, this was a fairly young female, as evidenced by the sagittal crest.  If you can't see any bone between the head muscles on top of the skull, you have an adult marten. The more bone you see, the younger the marten is.  So, with our young female (headshot later), I don't know if she was entirely viable, but we DID find what appeared to be a developing young inside her uterine horn:


Cool stuff, and the kids seemed pretty interested, too.

Here's a shot of the head of our "Sabre-toothed" female :D  Note the huge span of bone in-between the head muscles on top - she's a young one.....


Not to waste any opportunity involving a trapped animal, I placed this skull into the Dermestid beetle tote - should make an EXCELLENT specimen, with nice sharp teeth - and they're all there, too...  :)

Next check will likely be this weekend.....can't wait....