One winter, some years ago, I was on a cross country skiing /
backpacking trip into the woods in the Northwest. We ran across a
marten in a tree. (We call the local species Pine Martens, as do many
others in the U.S., but there is another related species that is also
called Pine Marten.) Sadly, in those days leg-break traps were still
legal and some fur hunter had staked one in a tree, apparently hoping
to catch exactly what he caught. It was around -10 to -20 degrees F
at the time, and the marten was bleeding rather badly.

This left me in a bit of a quandary. I wanted to release the animal,
but that would have been seriously illegal in those days and it also
had a broken leg and had lost quite a bit of blood. I ended up braining
it with a heavy branch to end its suffering. Otherwise it was going to
either freeze or bleed to death, while in a great deal of pain.

To this day, I am not sure I did the right thing.

Lonny Eachus

[Posted in FML 7729]