Setting Beaver Traps

After several cups of coffee and a hearty breakfast of buckwheat pancakes dotted with tundra berries, eggs over easy, and cottage ham, all cooked up in our favorite cast iron skillets, it was time to bundle up and head to the boat.

Beaver dam close to home.

Forty degrees on the cabin deck meant that it would be much colder down on the windy river, so parkas and beaver hats were the gear of the day, along with waders, waterproof pants, and gloves. Waddling down the stairs to our boat launch, I could feel the excitement growing in my belly. This was the start of a new season. Trapping season. Beavers make good trapping bait for bigger animals such as wolverines, lynx, and wolves. Their fur is also great for making hats and gloves, even though it has hardly any fair market value.

We motored down the Unalakleet River, toward North River, a smaller tributary with an abundance of sloughs filled with beaver dams. Nuka, our two-year-old chocolate lab, was along for the ride, and excitedly put her front paws on the top rail of the boat and leaned into the wind, nose high in the air searching for animal scents, ears flapping comedically. On our ride toward the North, we were surrounded by birds, Merganser ducks took flight, staying low and parallel to the boat, their startling red heads leading the way. A Bald eagle Soared overhead and an Osprey crossed our path and found a resting place in the top of a pine. It was a gray-blue day with the crispness that fall brings.

Beaver Slip & Slide

Shortly after taking a hard right up the North River, we came to a slough barely as wide as our 14-foot skiff was long, and we idled slowly up, making note of the apparent beaver signs - stacks of freshly bared sticks and trails to and from the river where the tall grass was laid flat and slippery, not unlike a Slip and Slide. Beaver traps don’t require any bait, just knowledge about where to place them - in the water where those trails lead or in front of an open hole in the bank at the waterline. Wherever there are strong signs that beavers are using a route, that’s the place to set a trap, no bait needed. After setting two traps in that first slough, turning the boat around in that narrow passage proved to be a challenge. By killing the motor and using an oar to push our front end around and point it back the way we came, we were able to restart the engine and slowly motor our way out.

Our boat motor is jet propelled, no prop. It makes it easier to navigate the shallow waters of the rivers where we live in western Alaska. However, a jet is extremely hard to maneuver at low speeds because the propulsion is a result of water being forced in a rearward direction, and, like Newton’s Third Law of Motion, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction,” so, as thrust out the rear decreases, so does the directional control, or steering maneuverability. All of this is to say that slowly motoring in and out of a shallow, log-laden slough can be quite the challenge.

Bear tracks

The next slough we stopped at was littered with fresh bear tracks along the muddy bank. I was a little uneasy, but felt much better knowing Nuka was tearing off through the brush making a racket likely to scare anything away before it sniffed me out.

My main job on our trapping expedition was to secure the boat, hand my husband the traps as he needed them, and keep Nuka out of the way. The rusty traps were stiff, but Gregg’s strong hands were used to them and made short work of setting them in the water and securing them with sticks found nearby.

Reflecting on the life of a beaver, I realize it's not far off from my own. They require both trees and water for survival, are monogomous, and thrive in the winter. Also, they continue to grow throughout their lives, with women being larger than men. Having an amazing ability to change their environent to suit their needs, these remarkable creatures actually have a positive impact on climate change. In addition, they are quite resilient, rebuilding a destroyed home, known as a lodge, overnight. Finally, the English term "to beaver" means to work hard.

After setting eight traps in four different sloughs, it was time to head home to a late lunch of leftover Caribou Jalapeno Cheese hot dogs. Beavers are very active this time of year and we expect we’ll have beavers in most, if not all, of the traps by tomorrow afternoon, when it’ll be time for another adventure.

Beaver Traps

News Writing Lesson using Fractured Fairy Tales

Click on this link for the original story on which the following notes and news article were created.
 Cinderella Fractured Fairy Tale


Most Important - they lived happily ever after
Who - Cinderella and the Prince
What - slipper
When - two days after the ball
Where - in the garden
Why - to find who the mystery lady was
How - all women to try on slipper
Attribution (source of information) - Oscar, the grey mouse
When in doubt, err on the side of attribution.

Prince Finds Perfect Fit

Kathy Kysar
Roving Reporter

FAIRY TALE LAND - Yesterday, the prince found the mystery lady from the Ball locked in the garden at the Stepmother’s house. After his horses were startled by a mouse and nearly trampled Cinderella, the homeowner’s stepdaughter, the Prince discovered that the owner of the glass slipper was Cinderella, also known as Cindy. They immediately began to live happily ever after.

According to Oscar, a grey mouse and personal friend of Cindy, the Prince was “totally captivated” by her at the Ball. After leaving the ball by private coach at midnight, she discovered that she had lost a shoe, a glass slipper.

The next day, sources close to the cheese-vine said that the Prince had fallen in love and was determined to search out the owner of the glass slipper he had found left behind by a woman he didn’t even know by name.

Yesterday, shortly after arriving at the Stepmother’s house, it was determined that the small shoe did not fit any of the three women in residence there. Upon the Prince’s departure, the horses, scared by a mouse, ran the carriage through the garden gate, revealing a fourth woman on the premises, who had been locked in the garden and prevented from greeting the Prince. Charges against the homeowner are pending.
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The next part of this article, should it continue, would be about the Godmother’s help in preparing Cinderella for the ball. Then, background information of Cinderella’s mistreatment would follow. However, it is unusual, except in cases of a feature article, for that much detail to be included. Your article should be at least four paragraphs long, so include as much detail as you need to get that much on paper.

Friendship Overcomes Plasticity

This is a text analysis of the lyrics, "Red Solo Cup," by Toby Keith.


"Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith

Now red solo cup is the best receptacle
From barbecues, tailgates, fairs and festivals
And you sir do not have a pair of testicles
If you prefer drinkin' from glass

Hey red solo cup is cheap and disposable
In fourteen years they are decomposable
And unlike my home they are not foreclosable
Freddie Mac can kiss my ass, woo!

Red solo cup, I fill you up
Let's have a party, let's have a party
I love you red solo cup, I lift you up,
Proceed to party, proceed to party

Now I really love how you're easy to stack
But I really hate how you're easy to crack
Cause when beer runs down, in front of my back
Well, that, my friends, is quite yucky

But I have to admit that the ladies get smitten
Admirin' at how sharply my first name is written
On you with a Sharpie when I get to hittin'
On them, to help me get lucky

Red solo cup, I fill you up
Let's have a party, let's have a party
I love you red solo cup, I lift you up,
Proceed to party, proceed to party

Now I've seen you in blue and I've seen you in yellow
But only you red will do for this fellow
Cause you are the Abbott into my Costello
And you are the Fruit to my Loom

Red solo cup, you're more than just plastic
More than amazing, you're more than fantastic
And believe me that I'm not the least bit sarcastic
When I look at you and say:
"Red solo cup, you're not just a cup (No, no, God no)
You're my friend, yea (Lifelong)
Thank you for being my friend"

Red solo cup, I fill you up
Let's have a party, let's have a party
I love you red solo cup, I lift you up,
Proceed to party, proceed to party


Friendship Overcomes Plasticity

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote in his journal, “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” Toby Keith may have had that very line in mind when he wrote “Red Solo Cup.” After all, right or wrong, many people have found solace in this iconic plastic container. The theme of friendship can be traced throughout these lyrics both metaphorically and through historical references. 

The metaphor of friendship, as illustrated by a red solo cup, can be most clearly seen in the refrain of Toby Keith’s lyrics, “Red solo cup, I fill you up. / … / I love you red solo cup, I lift you up.” Friendships can often be ways of filling up a void in one’s life or one’s heart. To be a good friend, it is also necessary to metaphorically “lift up” those you hold close, to be there for them in hard times and support them in their endeavors. It is in this way that the red, solo cup literally becomes Keith’s friend. He continues this relationship reference through to the end of the lyrics, “Thank you for being my friend.”

The theme of friendship is clearly articulated by historically referencing both Abbott and Costello and Fruit of the Loom, “... you are the Abbott into my Costello / And you are the Fruit to my Loom.” Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were an American comedy team, popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Their most famous routine was “Who’s on First?” and they were known as inseparable friends. In a similar connection, according to Wikipedia, Fruit of the Loom, trade name for a popular underwear brand dating back to 1851, was coined to parallel the biblical phrase, “fruit of the womb.” Since womb refers to having children, this allusion seeks to create a close relationship between the product and the consumer, a sort of friendship.

Toby Keith may not have had Ralph Waldo Emerson’s journal entry in mind when he wrote the lyrics to “Red Solo Cup,” but he certainly did make some valid points about friendship, both metaphorically and through historical references. Deeper meanings can be found in the lyrics that float around us on a daily basis, if we only listen.