Follow-up Interview, 10/9

We met again with the former trapper from Middlebury to get more details as he remembered his family's trapping boats.

The boats were pine with an oak stem. They leaked a little when you put them in the water, but not for long. There was a seat in the middle and one in the back, which was useful for putting your knife or hatchet on. The gun rack was on the side. You stood in the back, with your legs spread for balance, and poled on either side. The boats didn't last long because nobody took care of them, but you could get 15-20 years out of one with care. The dugout canoe belonged to his grandfather, so when he trapped alone as a 17-year-old, he needed his own boat, which his father helped him build. They would use old fence posts as sets, and pile them by the cabin or on the bank near where they were placed. They would store the boats in the barn in the winter. They would keep paint on the boats and dry them at the end of the season. They also hunted bullfrogs during muskrat season, and he says, "You haven't lived 'til you've eaten bullfrog legs." You hunt bullfrogs by netting the smaller ones and shooting the bigger ones. Twenty or so bullfrogs would be enough to feed the family, and they are best fried, according to him.

- Renee