TOO CRUEL?; STEEL TRAP DEBATE HEATS UP.

Byline: Amanda Covarrubias Associated Press 

Along the Mount Hamilton range, where thorny star thistle grows thick among the scrub oaks and sienna-hued brush, coyotes roam freely on an endless search for red foxes, ground-nesting birds and baby wild hogs.

When they slip too close to the sprawling ranch homes that dot the nearby hillsides, local residents call on Dairen Simpson, trapper and wildlife specialist for Santa Clara County.

When not keeping critters away from encroaching development, Simpson tracks animal-carried diseases by taking blood samples from coyotes he traps.

But one of his most reliable tools, the steel leg trap, has been outlawed in three states, and California could be next. Proposition 4 on the Nov. 3 state ballot would ban the traps except when humans are threatened.

Animal rights groups sponsoring the initiative, including the Doris Day Animal League and the Humane Society of the United States, claim the traps are cruel and often lethal. The groups have been successful in getting similar laws passed in Colorado, Arizona and Massachusetts.

``There are two distinct kinds of cruelty,'' said Aaron Medlock of Protect Pets and Wildlife/Vote Yes on 4. ``There's the initial impact that can cause broken bones, abrasions and swelling. Then there's the second injury when an animal struggles to get out.''

Recreational trappers and those who trap animals to sell their pelts would be barred from using body-gripping traps.

``We do not feel California wildlife should be slaughtered to make fur coats,'' Medlock said.

Leg traps, about eight inches across when set, are used primarily to manage coyotes, muskrats and red foxes, predators that kill livestock and endangered species and sneak into back yards on quests for dogs, cats and garbage.

There are 282 people licensed by the state to trap for recreation or commerce. Several hundred more are professionals who work for government agencies, as Simpson does, and researchers who conduct studies on animal behavior and wildlife preservation.

``It will essentially provide a serious obstacle to research and protecting endangered species,'' said Utah State University biologist Russ Mason, who is overseeing a study on coyote vocalization in Hopland, Calif. ``The real tragedy to all this is that it's fairly easy to equip leg-hold traps with tranquilizer tablets that eliminate the possibility of injury to the animal.''

Leg traps, which are set in shallow holes in the ground and camouflaged with dirt, have been modified over the years with rubber padding to minimize pressure on animals' legs. Wary coyotes are lured to the trap with bait, such as fetid beef liver and rotten egg paste.

But opponents claim it's not just coyotes that are attracted to the traps and that animals will bite the metal or even chew off their legs to escape.

That's why trappers are required to check their lines every day, said Terry Mansfield, chief of wildlife management for the California Department of Fish and Game. Routine checks also prevent trapped animals from falling victim to other predators and extreme weather, he said.

As Simpson surveyed a trap line last month on a 4,000-acre cattle ranch recently purchased by the county for a wildlife preserve, the four coyotes he captured that morning sat passively, each with one leg gripped by a trap.

``They fight at first, but when they realize they can't get out, they stop wasting their energy,'' Simpson said as a full moon glistened through the early morning fog. ``They're not dumb.''

Simpson took blood samples from the coyotes to test for plague and other diseases. When freed, the animals had dark indentations on their feet, which he said would disappear in a few hours.

To prove his point, he set off a trap on his right-hand fingers and wore the contraption for an hour while he maneuvered his four-wheel-drive truck across the hilly terrain 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. The indentations on his fingers disappeared within 30 minutes after he took it off.

``This isn't the only tool, but it's a very big part,'' Simpson said. ``You need to have a variety of these tools because animals are adaptable and extremely intelligent. In the right hands, these are the most effective things out there.''

Animal rights advocates suggest using cable snares and cages instead of steel traps. But a coyote is too smart to step into a box cage, and snares can be used only under certain conditions. In most conditions, coyotes will step around them or the wrong type of animal will be caught, experts said.

Proposition 4 also would outlaw two poisons used in coyote control: sodium fluoracetate, a liquid poison released from collars worn by sheep and goats, and sodium cyanide, a powder contained in plastic capsules that are set in pastures where coyotes travel.

Both chemicals are available only to certified applicators through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

PROPOSITION 4 AT A GLANCE

In the Nov. 3 state election, California voters will decide whether to ban steel leg traps except when humans are threatened. Proposition 4 also would ban two pesticides used in coyote control.

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

PHOTO (1) no caption (Coyote)

(2) Trapper and wildlife specialist Dairen Simpson uses a duffel bag to control a coyote in a steel leg trap, outlawed in three states.

(3-4) Dairen Simpson sets a trap, above, at a ranch in Santa Clara County. At right, he frees a coyote from the trap.

(5) Trapper Dairen Simpson carries a freed coyote around his neck.

Randi Lynn Beach/Associated Press

BOX: PROPOSITION 4 AT A GLANCE (See text)