What would be the best thing to do, should you come across a wild animal caught in a trap and no one around?

Question

In this hypothetical situation, what would be the best thing to do, when you come across a wild animal caught in a trap, and there is no one around for miles, and you are out of coverage (for calling for help)

Let's say for the sake of argument it is a wolf, clearly starving, unable to move from the trap, which has its vice clamped shut around the wolf's paw.

Is it better to leave the wolf behind to starve to death and protect yourself, or provide the wolf with food and water, leaving the trap shut? Or what?

Remember, this is a hypothetical situation.

Answer 1

Hypothetical questions usually end up with a whole bunch of hypothetical answers which serve NO worthwhile purpose other than to continue myths and perpetuate misinformation. IF your situation were for real, the wolf would not be left in the trap long enough to even begin to come close to starving. Wolf pelts are a valuable commodity in the trapping/fur industry and NO trapper would allow $100's of dollars to slip through his fingers by not responsibly checking his trap just as often as IS required by law. In the domain of the wolf, about the ONLY telephone signal you are going to access is that for a satellite phone and a goodly number of trappers, even in the far North, can't afford that expensive luxury. Additionally, you will NOT be able to approach a wolf in a trap in order to release it. It really IS wild, and will not comprehend that you have its best interests in mind. It can and WILL fight to defend itself from any threat that comes within reach. It will be even MORE inclined to fight since it already feels trapped and cornered. To feed it, you will have to kill another animal with the same rights to life as the wolf, so that really isn't fair or worthy of consideration either. The BEST reaction "in the REAL" world would be to leave the wolf alone. The trapper will retrieve it for certain. IF you think it has been there in the trap for a period longer than the state or province legally allows, contact your local authorities and give them the location of the trapped animal. If they agree with you, they will check the situation out and if a violation has occurred, will proceed with the proper actions. The trapper, who's name and contact information is on the trap, will be ticketed for any violations and may lose his/her trapping license and rights to trap that area. For safety reasons, NEVER approach an animal in a trap without knowing and taking the proper precautions. Serious injuries including death may be the results of your otherwise good intentions.

Answer 2

If you are by yourself and see a wolf trapped, you may not want to endanger your own life trying to free it. There is a chance that the wolf will attack you, and therefore you can be the one who is wounded without any way to seek medical help. Of course, any wild mammal may be infected with rabies. Besides, the owner of the trap may do you harm if you intervene. The best thing to do is to remember the location and drive to an area with cell phone coverage or a public phone and call the authorities.

Answer 3

If it is seriouly injured from the trap put it out of its misery or if not injured just release it while holding an elongated object to try to scare it away from you

Answer 4

KILL IT...of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's a DUH,kiddies