Everyone dreams of waking up every day, going to their job which also happens to be their favorite hobby. After all, what more could you ask for? It wouldn’t really seem like work, after all. It would be more like a full time hobby, right? Well, I am not going to say this is wrong, but there is more to the story than just waking up, getting in the government truck, driving around looking for sign and setting steel.
More Than You Think
To say one is a “government trapper” is only partially accurate. Yes, they perform predator control in livestock areas and animal damage control. But there is much more to the occupation than just trapping. Endless paperwork (it is the government, after all), counting birds, doing studies on moles and gophers, etc. Government trappers work for the APHIS agency, which stands for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. With that broad of an agency name, you can imagine the endless possibilities of non-trapping related work.
USDA Trappers – First Hand Accounts
At some point the agency conducted some interviews with government trappers. These interviews are posted on the USDA APHIS page (click here for the interviews page). I do not remember what I was looking for when I stumbled into this site. But I found myself spending a few hours reading the interviews. I found them all quite interesting. I am still not sure why the USDA would put such content on the internet, it seems uncharacteristic of them, but I am glad they did. The interviews provided some insight to what these guys’ workdays were like. There are even a few names you may recognize. The first one that jumped out to me was Odon Corr.
Hope You Enjoy
I hope you enjoy reading these candid interviews as much as I did. They do make for some interesting reading and provide some insight to the job of “government trapper”.
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