Cruel and archaic traps

Robert DeFarges (“Rhetoric vs. the truth,” BDN, Feb. 24) states that it is illegal to trap bears in Maine using steel-jawed leghold traps and that they have been “illegal for years.” A quick check of Title 12 12260 on the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Web site reveals there is nothing that prohibits the use of steel-jawed, leghold traps to trap bear in Maine.

These horrendously cruel and archaic traps are still used and will continue to be used until the statutes governing bear hunting in this state are changed. Maine remains the only state that still allows any kind of trapping of bear.

A good friend, a person who hunted and trapped bear for 40 years, told me, “It is legal to set a mouse trap or a trap that someone invented this morning to trap a bear as long as it is within the guidelines of the above statute.”

In other words, as the statute is written, anything goes.

DeFarges also disputes that the 2004 bear referendum was close. Nearly half of those who voted were in favor of the referendum which is hardly a mandate for the status quo and hopefully will serve as an eye opener for those who manage Maine’s wildlife.

Bob Brooks

Montville