Trappers sustain marten populations by harvesting only excess wandering males.

Evidence

Trappers like him are on the front line of monitoring wildlife populations and well-being. They have a responsibility to take care of the species they rely upon, and every visit to the trapline produces data that govern the trapper’s response. “If we catch only male martens, we will keep the traps open,” he says. When there is an excess of unpaired males, they are wandering and easy to trap. Too many young males can leave less food for the others. “But as soon as we get a female, we stop trapping. That means we’ve skimmed off the excess and we don’t touch the rest. That way the population doesn’t get too crowded, none will go hungry, but their population will continue to grow.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 699

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete mechanism of the harvest-ethic practiced as population management — extends ch36-ch39 sustainable-harvest findings to animal kin; feeds eco-justice land-relationship course.
• QUESTION: How does sex-selective trapping compare with Western wildlife-management harvest quotas in effect on population structure?