Trapping: 5 things to know about the Canada lynx

Magnificent and mysterious, the Canada lynx is a hunter’s prize. Its fur is silky and its meat tastes similar to hare. Here are five facts about this wild cat that may increase your odds of trapping one on your next hunting trip.

1. Don’t let the name mislead you: this species of lynx isn’t confined to Canada alone. It’s also found in Alaska and in various parts of the northern United States. It lives in boreal forests and in areas where the snowshoe hare, its preferred meal, is abundant.

2. Lynx are highly cautious and therefore seldom seen. However, several traps, including foothold traps and killer-type (conibear) traps, are effective in capturing them.

3. The Canada Lynx has sharp vision in the dark but a poor sense of smell, so you don’t have to worry about concealing your scent.

4. It hunts in open spaces, so set up your traps in locations where they will be visible from a distance such as near forest roads, beaver dams or waterways. Choose areas where hares are plentiful.

5. The large pads of its paws have a snowshoe-like buoyancy that allow it to successfully chase down hares. In fact, they’re so enormous and disproportionate to the animal’s size that lynx tracks are sometimes confused with cougar tracks.

Provided you have the required trapping permits or licenses, you can trap the Canada lynx in all Canadian provinces and territories except Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as well as in Maine and Alaska in the U.S.