Leg-hold Trap Education Joins Rattlesnake Avoidance Training

Hunters and other dog enthusiasts now have another reason to attend an upcoming Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Day. The day's events will include a trap awareness seminar by Fish and Game officers. To learn more about the training day, visit www.snakeavoidance.org. The combined event will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, August 10, at Veterans' Memorial Park, State Street and Veterans' Parkway in Boise. While the cost of the rattlesnake avoidance training is $40 for pre-registered dogs, the trap awareness seminar is free, with no appointment required. The trap awareness seminar is designed for anyone who regularly takes their dogs to the Boise foothills, other outlying areas and even the Greenbelt. "Most dog owners are unfamiliar with traps of any kind," Fish and Game conservation officer Kurt Stieglitz said. "This seminar will provide them with some very practical tools related to trapping, including the steps to take if a pet dog ever ends up in a trap." Stieglitz and fellow officer Brian Flatter will discuss the different types of traps that might be encountered, including leg-hold traps, body-gripping traps and snares, how each trap type works and how to release a pet safely from a trap. Other topics to be covered include trapping seasons, areas to avoid while walking your pet, trapping rules and what to do if a trap is encountered. For more information regarding the trap awareness seminar, contact the Idaho Fish and Game Nampa office at 208-465-8465. For more information regarding the Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Day, contact Heidi Funke at 208-463-2304, hfunke3dk@gmail.com or visit www.snakeavoidance.org.