Preservation of America's Wildlife

Tag: travel

  • Trapping – Sociopathic & Psychotic Behaviors – Are Not Heritage

    Written / Researcher – John Cox, M.A. C/M

    I reviewed a Social Media page today; whereas, a Trapper, who also runs a fishing store, was watching a Coyote, die a slow death. He was speaking calmly, although irrationally as if he assumed it normal, and I observed so many symptoms of Sociopathic Behaviors, that it amazed me he is not in prison, or a mental institution. His name and Social Media Page is filled with advertising his toxic chemicals, to quite frankly, entertain his supporters, and in turn they also derive the same satisfaction, of torture and abuse via toxic-chemicals, by watching Wildlife Die a Slow, Painful, Death.

    This is not just a simple Anti-Trapping Article. This is pointing out Human-Sociopaths-Behaviors, being, no doubt, harmful to present itself upon a Social Media Platform, as if an acceptable practice and way to treat animals. But the debate moves on, and hopefully, we can subject these types of people to prison, or mental institutions, rather than allow them to run slip-shod within our Wilderness areas.

    The necessity of trapping and poisoning wildlife is a subject of intense debate in America, with a significant shift toward non-lethal, science-based coexistence strategies. While some stakeholders argue that trapping remains a crucial tool for wildlife management, predator control, and public health, others contend that these methods are archaic, inhumane, and often counterproductive to ecological balance. 

    Arguments Against Continued Use (The Case for Non-Lethal Management)

    • Ineffectiveness: Decades of research suggest that trapping and poisoning (such as rodenticides) often fail to reduce wildlife conflicts, frequently disrupting family structures and leading to faster population rebound.
    • Environmental Damage & Unintended Victims: Poisons like rodenticides and M-44 cyanide bombs are indiscriminate, affecting hundreds of thousands of non-target, native species (including pets and endangered species) annually.
    • Non-Lethal Alternatives: Effective alternatives exist, including livestock protection dogs, fladry (colored flagging), better fencing, and habitat management.
    • Disease Control Concerns: Experts, including researchers cited by Born Free USA, indicate that killing animals does not control disease transmission and can sometimes increase the spread of diseases like rabies by disrupting stable populations. 

    Arguments For Continued Use (The Case for Management)

    • Population Control & Safety: Proponents argue that trapping is needed for managing raccoon populations, preventing damage, and managing wildlife in suburban areas.
    • Conservation and Disease Management: Some wildlife agencies view trapping as a tool for protecting livestock from predators and managing diseases. Wildlife Services has been taken to task many times, for Abusive Behaviors toward Wildlife, and yet . . .
    • Protecting Infrastructure: Trapping is used in facility management to protect infrastructure and property from damage.  Yet, humane methodology ignored, and science placed upon a back-burner, becoming a shallow phrase of necessity, when the abuse becomes obvious.

    Recent Trends
    Several areas are taking steps to ban or restrict the use of poisons and traps on public lands. For instance, California has implemented restrictions on using certain poisons and traps, prioritizing humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts. Additionally, the use of lead ammunition is heavily debated due to its role in poisoning scavenging wildlife.

    It is way [past time to keep looking away, or ignoring Trapping and abusive behaviors toward our Nation’s Wildlife.  It is, as we observe, simply getting worse, daily. . .

    (Filed 03-25-2026)

  • Communicating Wildlife Management when Interpretation Aspects Lack Proper Foundation, We refer to as Ignorance —

    Written by
    John Cox, M.A. C/M

    “I write a lot about experience, about Nature, and the constant situation of living in it, among it. I do this for several reasons. I, and inclusive of Wildlife Advocates, obtain feedback from some very illiterate, as well as ignorant folks. . .

    Simply peruse the Reactions from Wild Horse posts when we demand better management paradigms, or talking about the Group Hysteria Wolf Circumstance in Northern California, when many seem to over-look the baiting of Wolves illegally, the dragging of cattle into a field and baiting Wolves to get them when death come form many other situations exists (but not covered by subsidies) as evidence shows, or the attack from Hunting Dogs, very much overlooked. Ignorance is at an all time high in Northern California, as well as many other things we see today, involving our Natural Environmental Resources and Landscapes —

    I recall a College Professor, years ago, that spoke of these types of occasions; yes, before the Internet as it is today. Yet, very descriptive of those bar-room-scholars, wildlife management experts by Illiterate Proxy Bias, or, special-interest-science grifters, ballot-box science, et al. Yes, the Age of Information, has its good points, but also negative attributes that confuse many, who simply do not know what they do not know – nor, will acknowledge it.

    It’s interesting, the situation so applicable, when myself or others converse about experience, and how significant it is, in Nature, or, with Horses, Domestic or Wild. We can see those types of people, easily, by our “intuitive-reaction” to such flamboyant ignorance, especially as we age (i.e. experience), and it becomes a “mental-auto-response” –

    Yes, experience, the foundation of life when combined properly with ability to learn with an open-mind. This is similar, to a explanation, one of many others, of what propels our “gut-feelings” within matters we have experience with, but have not figured out the reason why it happened, so much as “it did happen”.

    A good example here, in this discussion, is riding Babe down a trail (many trails narrow to 3-feet wide with heavy brush and overhanging tree limbs, always, at times). I usually drop the reins (trust); which leaves me with an “intuitive-response mechanism” in the brain, often used unconsciously (experience). When my mind wanders over the beauty of Nature, and the trees, and the pleasant smells of the woods, or . . . I then lift the reins (due to intuitive-reaction). I saw the twitch of Babes right ear, (subconsciously). I knew (by a gut-feeling) what that meant, and reacted. I stopped on the trail.

    We turn around. Head back up the trail to the fork, and head down the other trail. Before turning onto the other trail, I glance back, at the narrow trail we left behind, and I saw three large Tree Snakes falling-off a tree limb, onto the trail. We would have been right there, at that spot, had we continued. Yes, over the years, I have subconsciously reacted to the many forms of Babe’s ears, or motions. I had grown to allowing her to follow the right trail at the fork in the logging roads or trails, by a slight leg-action when I decided which trail to go down. Perhaps she read my mind, over the years, and experienced my reactions when doing so – perhaps unknown by me when doing so.

    I realized there was more about her ears, or head-dips than explained to me, or I read in books or on videos. She communicated well, when on trails, rather than the known simplicity of a horse’s ears that move forward or backward, dependent upon their mood . . . I also use her ears to tell me, communicate, when I need to pick the reins back up, after giving her the lead (subconsciously) . . .

    Here is a good explanation, that many more will understand, as I recall from that college Professor – “We can build sheds, or even dog houses, all of us. But we never really know about what it takes, and the thought, and the ultimate actions by us, to build something more sophisticated, or much larger, using several levels of technical know-how.

    We reflect on what we have accomplished, in what we have done previously, assumptive it is enough for the knowledge we need. But building a Cathedral, for example, remains far from our understanding (yes, ignorance prevails, whether we admit it or not, and quite obvious to observe). But we as humans, will relate our experience to that situation. Hypothetically, one day we tear down a Cathedral, and learn all the different aspects of it, and acquire a knowledge of “How it was Built”. We then, as humans, act as though we are Experts, in building Cathedrals, I mean after all . . . One day, we are asked to build a Cathedral . . . The next day we find, we have no idea what type of brick needed to build the foundation of the Cathedral.”

    Building blocks of Academics (Learning) & Experience (Action) in Communication (Foundation) = Interpretation (Knowledge) gets the job done. Anything left out, or less, and we find a large amount of problems develop, most often what we refer to as “Incompetence”, or “Neglect”.

    Without any of these circumstances fully developed, within any subject field, or simply left undeveloped, we find “Ignorance” prevails. E.g. The best example in our part of the woods is the misuse of the Terminology Re-Wildling – Placing Wild Horses or Domestic Horses in a Pasture is simply not Rewilding – and ignorance prevails, and is not good science. . . And yet, we find these people that discuss these subjects, simply fail, ultimately. . . They are, definitively, “inexperience”, as well as do not have the foundation to develop their “interpretation” of what they are discussing, or doing . . . We then find irrational discussion, or actions, built upon “Fear”, and what follows can be considered failure yes, after the chaos.” — John Cox, M.A. C/M