Service project earns rank for Eagle Scout

TRAPPING AS AN EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT By Brennan Truman

The Eagle Scout rank is the most prestigious award offered to young men by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It not only signifies the completion of all fundamental requirements outlined by the BSA (known as rank advancements), but also the achievement of at least 21 merit badges ranging from First Aid to Environmental Science. In addition to obtaining rank advancements and merit badges, the prospective Eagle Scout candidate must plan, develop, and demonstrate leadership to others in a service project helpful to a religious institution, school, or community. The key to the project is to show leadership by the prospective Eagle Scout.

Last year I faced the dilemma of deciding on an Eagle Scout project, but all the typical projects like building park benches, just didn’t seem very interesting to me. Then my dad introduced a novel idea. One of his friends, Jack Spencer, a government trapper in Nevada, suggested that I organize an effort to collect blood samples from gray fox and have the samples tested for disease. It sounded interesting. After talking with officials from our state wildlife agency, I decided to trap gray fox, and take a small blood sample to test for plague. Now this was an unusual and exciting project! My dad and I began planning with my Scout leaders how I could put this unique idea into action.

First, I needed to purchase a scientific collection permit from the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) to allow me to catch fox during the summer months (when the regular fox season was closed). I then worked with Kevin Lansford, the Furbearer Specialist with NDOW, to develop a scientific method to acquire the samples needed to test for disease. Kevin was formerly a government trapper, and was extremely helpful in suggesting how and where to carry out the project.

The plan was to use cage traps to catch the fox in the Spring Mountains near Las Vegas, Nevada where the fox had a high chance of interaction with humans. After catching the fox, we would use a catch-pole to remove the fox from the cage trap. One person would hold the fox, while another person would draw a small blood sample by pricking the fox’s ear with the sharp point of an Exacto knife blade. NDOW provided small paper testing strips, called Nubuto strips, along with small manila envelopes on which we would record important data about the fox. A few drops of blood from the fox’s ear were placed on the Nubuto strip, and then the Nubuto strip was sealed inside the small manila envelope. On the outside of the envelope, we would record the date and location of capture, sex of the fox, and whether the fox was an adult or a juvenile. We placed an ear tag on the ear of each captured fox to indicate repeat captures, following which we released the fox.

Testing for plague is important because it can be a potentially deadly disease to animals and humans. Plague is caused by bacteria, Yersimia pestis, which is carried by fleas that feed on rodents. When a gray fox makes contact with a rodent, the fleas from the rodent sometimes bite the fox. The fox develops antibodies to fight the bacteria. By testing the fox’s blood for the presence of these antibodies, scientists can determine whether a fox has come in contact with a plague-infected rodent.

Plague infects the lymph nodes, lungs, or blood. If untreated, the bacteria can cause sores, pneumonia, and even death. Recently, a biologist in Arizona died of plague after skinning an infected mountain lion. However, if the disease is detected early, it can then be successfully treated.

I was able to enlist the help of Scouts from my troop, my adult leaders, a few carefully-selected friends, and my younger brothers and sister. We used three different types of cage traps for the project. The first type we obtained from Jeff Yancy, a successful cage trapper from California who manufactures a lightweight cage trap with a guillotine door. These were easy to use, easy to carry and very effective. We also used cages manufactured by John Schroeder from Nebraska. John’s cages use a drop-down, or swinging door. These cages are very sturdy and also proved to be successful at catching gray fox. The third type of cage trap we used was collapsible raccoon-type trap, and although this style of trap was lightweight, small, and easy to set, the fox didn’t seem to be as comfortable entering these types of traps.

For bait, we had good success with jack mackerel, bacon, chicken livers, smoked salmon and beaver meat. We found that adding beaver castor, fish oil, glands, and bacon grease enhanced the attractiveness of the bait. We also learned that during the summer months, a small portion of bait worked better than larger amounts. The same was true with call lures; it was very easy to overdo the use of lure.

Each cage received a small visual attractor to help lure in the fox. These attractors were made of small squares of faux fur, with two artificial rabbit eyes attached to the “critter.” We attached a 10 inch piece of tie wire to each attractor, and hung it in the rear of the cage where it would swing back and forth with the slightest breeze.

Our catch rate was very slow during hot summer months. In fact, it got to be quite discouraging at times, because we had to check the traps every morning in order to avoid the fox suffering from the 100+ degree temperatures common in the Las Vegas summers. However, immediately after summer rain showers, and as summer began to give way to early Fall, our catch rate improved.

The best locations for the cages seemed to be small ravines or washes near water sources. This was due to the fact that the temperatures were so high. We set up the cages so we could check them very quickly by noting whether the door was up or down. The cages were usually set against a large bush or tree to provide backing. This backing was very crucial to success because gray fox can climb trees, and they are not afraid to get up on top of the cage or climb a tree at the back of the cage. The cages were well concealed with brush and hidden in such a manner that you would have to be looking for it to know that it was there.

The first fox I caught was in a dry wash near a high mountain spring. My dad had set a cage on one side of the road, and I chose the location on the other side of the road to set “my” trap. I was using one of the small coon cage traps. On this day, we had checked all of the previous 11 or so traps and scored a big goose egg. We were picking up all the cages because we hadn’t seen any sign in this area. My dad said to go get the trap I had set (which was quite a ways from the truck) while he and my brother picked up my dad’s trap, set just a few feet from the road in a thicket of oak.

I started to look for the trap when I realized I had forgotten where it was set. I went to go get my dad for help when out of the corner of my eye I saw the big pile of tree limbs that indicated a well hidden cage. I walked over to it and noticed the door was down. I thought that it must have been either a rodent of some sort or maybe the wind that had triggered the door. I removed all the brush off the trap and to my surprise I saw a gray fox. I ran to the truck to get the testing kit and catch-pole, as well as my two helpers. My brother Blake used our video camera to film the entire testing process. I put the catch-pole on the fox so that my dad could reach in and take the fox out. The fox was surprisingly docile after it knew we meant no harm. Wearing nitrile gloves, we pricked the ear of the fox with the Exacto blade and collected a few drops of blood on the Nabuto strips. We then placed an ear tag on the fox to make sure we didn’t take the same information twice. After we drew the sample and put the ear tag on, we put an antiseptic on the tested area to prevent any infection. Once the testing was all done, we made sure the cameraman was ready, and then I released the fox. Away it went, never to be seen again.

Our scientific permit only allowed us to capture 20 fox. At first, we were pretty cocky and thought we would catch that many in a few weeks. Three months later, we had only caught 13 fox, and we were sufficiently humbled. However, as the weather began to cool, our catch pace began to increase dramatically. Once the actual trapping season came, we caught more than 20 in a couple of weeks. (During the trapping season, we were free to catch unlimited numbers of fox).

We sent in our first batch of 23 samples to NDOW in late fall. NDOW then forwarded the samples to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for the actual testing. On December 1, NDOW returned the results of the first tests to us. Of the 23 fox we had tested 12, or 52%, tested positive for contact with plague. NDOW also forwarded the results of the tests to our County Health District. Vivek Raman, the County Health District representative, called the test results, “alarming to say the least.” In fact, the Count Health District asked me to continue my testing because the County personnel had neither the skill nor the budget to capture and test gray fox and other predators. The County had previously obtained only a few fox and coyote samples and only a few had ever tested positive for plague. I agreed to do more testing, and we continued to obtain samples from the animals we caught during the trapping season. We submitted approximately 50 samples to NDOW (including a few bobcats, kit fox and coyotes). Interestingly, the remaining specimens tested negative, except for one sample where we didn’t collect enough blood to perform the test.

This project was both effective and worthwhile, and also provided an opportunity to share knowledge with fellow Scouts about the benefits of trapping. Many of the young scouts were also exposed to the outdoors and some merit badge requirements while on outings while checking traps. The project also makes it clear that trappers should be careful and use caution when handling the animals they catch.