Emily Lamb seeks to educate about benefits of trapping
People who don’t understand trapping, often assume that trappers are nothing more than animal killers. However, Emily Lamb is very passionate about wildlife, and sees trapping not only as a living, but also as a conservation effort.
Lamb’s passion for wildlife sparked at a young age when she grew up on her family’s farm.
“We were not wealthy people, by any means. Everybody had to share the workload, and I really liked doing that kind of stuff. I loved going out and feeding the cows and the chickens. I was outside all the time.”
At the age of 21, Lamb received her diploma in Wildlife and Forestry Conservation and began an internship working with a non-profit wildlife rescue. Through her time with them she became curious about hunting and trapping.
“I wasn’t into the idea of trapping or hunting at all, but my opinion is that if you want to be an expert you should know 100 per cent of every facet of what you are trying to be an expert at.”
Lamb says that before she learned about trapping, she was one of those people that turned their noses up to it. However, after learning about the benefits that trapping has on various ecosystems, it completely changed her mind.
When Emily Lamb goes trapping, she wears outfits that will blend into the environment, and thick boots to help with treading through thick bushes.
Photo credit: Natalie Holland
“Trapping is a really good way to take out that percentage of the population that is already going to reach critical mass and die off. But it’s in a really humane way, and it’s in a way that prevents disease and keeps the population really healthy,” says Lamb.
Now 26, Lamb is the president of the Calgary Trappers Association, an executive for Zone 5 of the Alberta Trappers Association. She does all this while working full time for Animal Damage Control, running the southern half of the province as a supervisor as well as their animal care specialist.
“Essentially for work, what we do is deal with problem wildlife,” says Lamb, “We get called in to mitigate human and wildlife conflict in someway or another. But sometimes it’s just helping people make a plan so that they avoid conflict all together.”
To help educate people, Lamb volunteers to speak at schools and outdoor groups. She finds that most people have not encountered trapping before, and do not inherently understand what it is all about.
“If I can just talk to people on a daily basis and just give them a face, you know, and let them know what we are all about; I think that makes a difference.”
“If I can just talk to people on a daily basis, and just give them a face, you know, and let them know what we are all about; I think that makes a difference.”
– Emily LambIn her experience, she has found that just by talking to people she has been able to change the way that they see the effects of trapping.
“I want people to stop thinking about how separate they are from the environment, and to actually go out, and just take an active role in conservation, and an active roll in just being a part of this world. That’s my ultimate goal.”