Lucky Lucy lives

According to the story told by the Peninsula Clarion, a retired sled dog named Lucy is lucky to be alive after having a conibear trap snap shut around her neck. Lucy got loose and went along untethered on a training run with her owner's kennel partner. "We don't normally take loose dogs," the musher told the Clarion, "She came out of nowhere and was running along." Then suddenly, Lucy started "screaming." The trap was set in the crotch of a tree by someone whom one Fish and Game official thinks didn't know what he or she was doing. The trap was reportedly rusty (which to Alaska Beat also indicates lack of experience), and after several fruitless attempts to compress the springs, Lucy was finally freed with bolt cutters. Despite the incident, Lucy's owners harbor no ill will toward trappers and say they're going to be more careful in the future. Read much more about the ordeal here. Usefully enough, the Clarion also reports that Fish and Game will offer a trapping education seminar on Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm at the Soldotna Sports Center. Read that announcement here.