On October 26, 2017 we hit the 900 mark in caged beaver in the popular Comstock Swim Through Beaver Cage Traps, taking beavers number 898, 899 and 900 on that day. The latest milestone was reached three days short of 7 years, since the first experimental 12×18 beaver cage trap, made by hand in the barn, was set on October 29, 2010 just a few miles from our home. I believe we are the first to reach 900 caged beaver, though it should be noted that one other trapper surely would have gone well past 1,000 several years ago had he not been hindered by health issues. He managed to catch over 600 beaver in the Comstock cage traps in his first two seasons back in 2011 and 2012, while at the same time breaking his all time beaver trapping record with conibears.
Averaging more than 100 beaver annually in our ADC business, 1,000 is now in sight for us in 2018. Thousands of these reliable traps are now in use from Maine to Washington with many more thousands of beaver as well as otter being taken in them.
History: The concept for these traps had been tucked away for decades, while the odesy to build the swim through traps began on a cold day in 2003, manifested in a bulky, less stable version of a beaver that was responsible for taking a handful of beaver before the practical version came about in 2010.