April 18, 2012
From HomerNews.com
An Alaska Wildlife Trooper turned the tables on a trapper when he
set his own trap to catch whoever took a lynx out of season. After
finding a dead lynx he found trapped near Ninilchik in December
before the Jan. 1 start of the season, Wildlife Trooper David
Chaffin cut off part of the lynx's right ear. When a trapper, Allen
J. Hoffman, 68, brought in three lynx furs to be sealed at the Homer
office of the Department of Fish and Game, one lynx fur missed part
of its right ear, Chaffin wrote in a criminal complaint. Chaffin
alleged that fur matched the cut-off part of the ear he had seized
earlier as evidence. Hoffman was charged with taking or trapping a
lynx during a closed season, unlawful possession or transportation
of game, unsworn falsification.
According to Chaffin's
complaint, on Dec. 10, 2011, while on patrol near Mile 3 Brody Road
in Ninilchik, he found a dead lynx caught in a snare set in a tree.
This year's lynx trapping season was Jan. 1 to Feb. 15. Chaffin
photographed the lynx and cut off part of the ear.
After Hoffman and another trapper brought the three lynx fur in
to be sealed, Wildlife Trooper Trent Chwialkowski interviewed
Hoffman and the other trapper. Hoffman allegedly denied taking the
lynx out of season and the other trapper said he had been with
Hoffman when the three lynx were taken and all three had been taken
in season, Chaffin alleged.
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