Sees bobcats on the rise
Staff writer
With the help of his father, Steve Jirak, Elias Jirak, a fifth grader at Centre Elementary School, has completed a successful trapping season.
He caught five bobcats, 44 raccoons, 10 skunks, 23 possums, and four coyotes.
Trapping season ran from late November to late January. Elias Jirak said he spread out the traps along game trails within a six- to 10-mile radius.
He went out at 6 a.m. every day to check the traps. Later, he skinned the animals he caught, scraped the fat off the skins, stretched them, and let them dry.
The furs will be sent to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to be sold in April at the North American Fur Auction.
Elias said he enjoys trapping: “You get money, and it’s kind of exciting when you catch something, especially a bobcat.”
He said bobcats seem to be on the increase in the area after catching five.