Trapping is life

Trapping is a way of life

By Alicia Noragon

In 1969, at the age of 12, Dale Thorne was given four muskrat traps from a family friend named Ellston Robinson. He wasn’t given any directions as to how to trap other than, “figure it out”! said Robinson. Dale has been figuring it out for over fifty years now with 2,000 plus beavers to his credit.

Dale does dry land trapping as well but outsmarting the “flat tails” as he calls them is his greatest passion.

Dale has been trapping alone his whole life, enjoying the solitude of nature. He does say having a partner with you helps when the dangers of trapping arise. This can include falling through the ice or mistakenly catching a bobcat and releasing it.

Taking pride in his passion is something Dale takes seriously. As a teen, Dale and his brother Fred (an excellent muskrat trapper) went through some difficult times. Not always having a lot of money, they lived off the beavers and muskrats they caught.

The pelts and hides are then shipped onto to buyers who auction them off to various companies and create garments.

Dale’s greatest memory was catching a mink and a muskrat at the same time, in the same trap! You never know what you are going to catch while trapping and that’s what keeps Dale on his toes and coming back for more.

Over the years, Dale has taught students his trade as well and some have gone on to trap as adults. Trapping is not for everyone; it is a dedicated sport that you choose to pursue every day.

Dale even says you can find an abundance of information on Google or even YouTube on trapping tips. Although these tools were not around when Dale was growing up, he learned all he knows in the school of life.

Spending countless days and hours honoring his craft has led his fur handling skills to win many awards over the years including the “Top Lot Trapper” award.

Dale’s passion is also admired greatly by his loving wife, Lori. It makes her heart happy to see him do what he truly loves to do.

According to Dale, “trapping is the best journey I have ever taken. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Whether it’s the solitude of rowing a canoe down the river, to the great friends I have made in the trapping community, it has all been a blessing. If you want to learn how to trap, remember that the animals are the best teachers.”

Dale Thorn and his catch of the day.

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major newspapers in California and New York, inquiring if anyone had information regarding her dad. She wanted to know what his life was like from when he left to the time of the plane crash. Eventually, a man contacted her with a phone number in New York. With hesitation, she called the number. Imagine her shock when Joseph was on the other end of the phone. Her dad was equally surprised, explained he had searched for his children, but their mom had moved too much. He'd missed that fateful flight years before. Their reconnecting was the beginning of a long and rewarding relationship.

A year after her daughter Chellle was born, Pardo was single again. She worked and began putting herself through nursing school. With the end of her marriage and the loss of her grandmother around the same time she felt her life spiraling. One Christmas, she went to a tree lot, and gave the man a quarter for a Christmas tree. Dragging it home, she set it up for her two-year-old daughter and told her the story of Christ’s birth.

Pardo's faith has always been strong, even as a child she went to church every Sunday. She took her daughter to mass that Christmas. Everyone was singing, her daughter joining in as well. When the music stopped, Chelle, standing on the pew, shouted “SING! Everybody sing!” Kathy realized then, that “God was there with her.”

Pardo eventually remarried and had her son Jay. Through trips to the emergency room with her own children, she realized that she “may be too radical for a career in nursing,” and began to work towards certification as a licensed ambulance attendant. Attending Northern Michigan Community College, she got her EMT license plus worked for the Commission on Aging and ran a day care from her home. Pardo always felt her children to be her priority, many times dropping them off or needing to pick up her children from school in an ambulance. Pardo credits former bosses with their support in allowing her to work and care for her children.

It was on one of her ambulance runs when she contacted the doctor of a deceased patient and he was unable to respond. Dr. Gosling asked Kathy if she would do the investigative work for him. That was her initial introduction to being a Medical Examiner.

During her work for North Flight, she suffered an injury causing her to be unable to walk. Doctors offered little hope. Determination and a strong will helped her to regain her strength and ability to walk again. During this period, her marriage dissolved.

In 2007, Kathy married Jesse

GIFT GIVEAWAY

WINNERS! – Fairview Hardware held its annual $500 gift giveaway Dec. 2. The winners were Tracy Constance and Jeremy Linsley.

Right: Tracy Constance is pictured with owner Marika Christenson. Below: Jeremy Linsley is pictured with owner Marika Christenson.

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Carlson. He passed away March 2019 after a battle with cancer.

One Love

After being kept awake for several nights by a feral cat crying outside her home, Kathy erroneously thought she could take care of the problem with a dish of chicken. The next night he brought back friends. Realizing the village had a serious feral cat problem, she spoke to the village council requesting help with spay and neuter costs of those she could catch. The village council provided $1500 to One Love towards those efforts.

Pardo currently pays for food, litter, spay and neuter, immunizations, as well as vet bills. Most expenses are covered by her personally. To date, she has rescued and adopted out a total of 211 cats within the village of Roscommon. She can care for and feed as many as thirty cats at a time, and works with all the local rescues. Kathy is always in need of bedding, food, litter, cat carriers, and any other aids to help with this effort. Anyone wishing to help with donations may call or text her at 989-889-5776.

Whether human or feline, Kathy Pardo-Carlson provides aid to many in distress, calming the chaos.