2012 Furbearer Outlook

By Pat Tate, N.H. Fish and Game Furbearer Project Leader

2012/2013 Furbearer Forecast
By Pat Tate, N.H. Fish and Game Furbearer Project Leader

New Hampshire's furbearer populations are healthy, diverse and abundant.  Trappers, who are some of the best naturalists in the state, represent important partners in New Hampshire’s furbearer management efforts.

Trapping is a highly regulated activity in New Hampshire. Trapper education is required, as is mandatory reporting of field activities. And, of course, written landowner permission is required, among many other requirements.

There are fewer than 500 trappers in New Hampshire, and the information they provide to wildlife population managers is essential to season-setting.  The services that trappers offer the public in resolving human/wildlife conflicts, such as removal of beavers flooding septic fields or raccoons raiding chicken coops, is also essential to maintaining balance between human and wildlife interests.

New Hampshire monitors furbearer abundance by way of trapper success, as reflected by the number of animals trapped per one hundred trap-nights of effort.  Fish and Game's species monitoring activity focuses primarily on beaver, fisher, otter, mink, muskrat, raccoon, red and gray fox and coyote,

How are our furbearers doing? The mild winter of 2011/2012 allowed early movement and better access to late winter/early spring food sources for water-bound furbearer species.  Modest winter impacts and expected increased survival of furbearers produced last winter and spring is expected to carry over to fall and winter seasons in 2012 and 2013. For specific information regarding New Hampshire furbearer hunting and trapping seasons, see the 2012 and 2013 Hunting Digest (click here and on publication cover).
  
Bobcat Research
The first phase of a New Hampshire Fish and Game Department/University of New Hampshire bobcat research initiative has been completed. Preliminary findings indicate that citizen sightings of bobcats can be used to document bobcat behavior and distribution, but that they do not constitute a reliable basis for estimating the bobcat population. Bobcat telemetry data from southwestern New Hampshire showed that bobcats use wetlands, scrublands, riparian areas, forest interiors and areas of low elevation and low stream density as preferred habitats.

Data from the study further indicate that bobcats appear to avoid roads and areas of human development. Bobcat habitat selection appears to reflect use of areas of higher prey density and preferred loafing or denning areas. Future study results will provide information on bobcat habitat preference in southeastern New Hampshire, identify wildlife corridors based on bobcat habitat use, and tell us more about the value of trail cameras in assessing regional bobcat abundance.  To learn more about the bobcat study, visit http://mlitvaitis.unh.edu/Research/BobcatWeb/bobcats.htm.

Wildlife Harvest Summary: Trappers can find information on the past season's fur harvest and more in the 2011 N.H. Wildlife Harvest Summary. This publication is available for review on the NH Fish and Game website (click here and on publication cover). Hard copies are available at Fish and Game regional offices and at headquarters in Concord.