Laura Edington
Richmond County Daily Journal
When Randy Grooms’ pit bull mix didn’t come home he started getting worried. “He’s always at home, at night and during the day time,” Grooms said.
Two days went by and finally Roscoe, the two year old dog, showed up at Grooms’ house near Hamlet with a three-prong hook stuck through his lip.
Roscoe is Grooms’ only dog and he said, “I was worried about him, I knew something was wrong. He was gone two days and two nights.”
Grooms immediately began trying to help his dog and succeeded in removing the hook from Roscoe’s lip by cutting the prong off one end with a pair of vice grips, he said.
Grooms said that a lot of people put these hooks in the woods in an effort to trap coyotes. “They stick chicken bones and things like that from the hooks and hang them from trees,” he said. When the coyotes jumps up to bite the meat, they get caught on the hook, Grooms said.
Grooms said that he is worried for others dogs and children who might get caught in the hooks.
Richmond County Wildlife Officer Sterling Welsh said that although certain types of trapping mechanisms are legal in North Carolina, this particular type of trapping mechanism is not.
The Regulations Digest, written by The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said that coyote trapping is legal from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 in and east of the counties of Hertford, Bertie, Martin, Pitt, Green, Lenoir, Duplin, Pender and New Hanover. From Nov. 1 to Feb. 28, coyote trapping is legal in all other counties.
“In addition to the regular trapping seasons listed above, coyotes may be taken in counties, areas and times where fox-trapping is allowed by statute,” the Digest said.
Even though it is coyote trapping season, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, “All traps must have a weather-resistant permanent tag attached legibly with the trapper’s name and address, it is unlawful to set or use a trap so that animals or birds will be suspended when caught and it is unlawful to set or use a hook of any sort or type to take wild animals or wild birds.”
Welsh said that trappers are required to check their traps every 24 hours.
Grooms said that Roscoe is going to be OK. “He is alright now. I gave him a shot of penicillin and he’s back to normal,” he said.
Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.
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