Trappers of the Barataria

Nutria Traditions

Jon and Jocelyn Donlon

Jerry Alfonzo

Retired trapper and hunter, commercial fisherman, duck carver

Trapper Jerry Alfonso at his home

In his Chalmette home in St. Bernard Parish, Jerry Alfonzo keeps an extensive collection of traps, pelts, and duck carvings. Mr. Alfonzo, of Isleños heritage, began trapping in St. Bernard Parish when he was nine years old, learning from his father, who learned from his father. He stopped trapping about ten years ago. During his fifty-plus years of trapping, he caught nearly every fur-bearing animal in Louisiana, including otter, nutria, mink, beaver, and muskrat.

Mr. Alfonzo has participated in every aspect of trapping, including catching, skinning, drying, and selling pelts. During his time, the skins were "sent to New York, and from there, they were sent to Germany and Russia." Today, Mr. Alfonzo is sometimes invited to participate in folklife festivals. When demonstrating the process of trapping, Mr. Alfonzo also shows the hand-made wooden stretchers that are used to extend the skins. These skins are turned inside out and placed in the sun for drying.

Again dismissing the complexity of his work, he repeats his claim that "there's nothing to it" when talking about the process of trapping. "The animal shows you how to trap. You put the trap where the animal passes at. You try to put it in water." If not placed in water, the trap will rust and become "hard to snap." In addition, "You set it real light; anything it touches, it snaps."

Mr. Alfonzo owns a variety of traps. The "Gibb trap," which was discontinued fifty years ago, is also called "the two-trigger trap" because of its two sets of teeth. One trap, which catches the animal by the neck, is baited. An "oyster trap," or "jump trap," will jump when it snaps in order to "catch the animal further up on the leg." A "diamond trap" has two jaws, one on the outside and one on the inside. His favorite trap is the "single spring Victor," also called "V.G." trap. This trap is made by Victor and bears a trademark "V." It pushes the animal "away from the trap so that he can't eat his leg." He shows how many traps are notched so that owners can identify theirs. He also owns a bag which carries the traps and the caught animals.

The veteran trapper displays not only knowledge of trapping traditions, but also an understanding of the animals themselves. "Otters are playful animals. They love to play. And they're very, very smart, you know," says Mr. Alfonzo. What's more, "A mink is hard to catch; you gotta really know what you're doing." Obviously, he prefers the larger pelts. "They bring more money."

According to Mr. Alfonzo, the nutria doesn't damage the environment as much as a muskrat. "The muskrat will dig holes in the ground. They follow the root, and they eat it up till it ends. They make a big mound out of grass and mud. And before it rains, they go and patch the nest with mud. That's how come we knew it was gonna rain-when the muskrats patched the nest." (He also says that when blackbirds sing a lot, it's going to rain.)

Mr. Alfonso has expertise in hunting both nutria and alligator. He observes that the increased harvesting of alligator has led to greater numbers of nutria, since alligators eat a lot of nutria.