A very strange crab trap conundrum. Thoughts?

[Hogie70]

Yes you only banned Gilbert from the site not TT lmao And Gilbert loves boiled crab

[dbarham]

Gilbert

[coachlaw]

Yep, coons tear stuff up and leave scat all over the place. No signs of coons since 2009. Healthy coyote population keeps them down.

[plugger]

So the doors were pried open , not unlached , with one being torn off ? I guess a raccoon or a otter would be capable of ripping off those doors although I have no real knowledge of their abilities . They both have some serious teeth to slice a cord clean but again you have the first hand experience with them . So , ruling out a hefty incoming tide and wind to slice the rope and propel it into the marsh while smashing off the doors , all unlikely, your otter / raccoon theory gets my vote . If a raccoon is around , wouldn't he be likely to nose around some other areas of the cabin and other cabins ?

[coachlaw]

I'm laughing now imagining the phone call to the Sheriff's office. The consensus on TOB is otters or mythical creatures.

[JT]

Sounds like you may need to bring back in the guy y'all hired to investigate the organized crime ring that broke into those fish camps at TT to figure this one out.

[Curmudgeon]

JT does have a batch of fish stew on the menu at the sand bar for today only.....maybe he took the fish heads?

Bwahahahaha! Nice Jeremy!


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[FP10]

JT does have a batch of fish stew on the menu at the sand bar for today only.....maybe he took the fish heads?

[coachlaw]

This is a rather strange occurrence. I've talked to everyone on the bayou, and they have their opinions. I'd like to cast a wider net and see what y'all think.

Yesterday I put out 2 crab traps at my dock. At high tide, they were about a foot beneath the surface. The tide was going out until very early in the morning. I awoke at 4:30 am to the call of nature and I shined my flashlight on the traps. They were about half out of the water with a bunch of crabs in them. I saw that the tide had slowed and was about to turn, so I didn't worry about moving them deeper. The breeze was pretty stiff from the South.

I went back to sleep and awoke to my alarm at 6:30am. I walked out the door and didn't see my traps. I was amazed how fast the tide had come in to cover them already. Then I walked to the other corner of the porch and saw my 2 traps in the marsh. I checked out the lines still tied to the dock and they had been cut clean in the water. The lines were not frayed at all. Though they are elderly, as many of my possessions are, they are still strong with no fraying. the cut is indeed as clean as a sharp knife would have made.

I got my boots on and made the 20-30 yard journey to the traps. The crabs were still in them, but the bait doors had been ripped open. One was even missing. The traps showed no other signs of intent. The crabs were still alive, so I put them back in the water next to the dock.

What could have cut those lines clean and dragged the traps into the marsh, stealing the bait? The tide and wind were going the other direction. So add to the conundrum what could have dragged them into the marsh grass?

The only things I can think of that live out here are coons, otters, and coyotes. I haven't seen a coon or signs of a coon since 2009. I haven't seen an otter in 5 years. Coyotes are all around, but I don't think they could cut a line clean or have the intelligence to do so and drag a trap into the marsh. Being from Louisiana, I thought of the Loup 'Garou. But we're not dealing with fantasy creatures just yet.

Again, we're dealing with a 2 hour time frame from 4:30-6:30am. What coulda done dis ting? - Sandy