WYCAP Latest News
46 Drivers, 3,271 Miles, 3 Cats: Inside Cross-Country Pet Transport
On a Saturday evening, three brave cats pulled off I-80 into Laramie in the back of a Ford Escape. The two crates that held the three cats were squeezed into the car with inches to spare. The transfer between vehicles was swift. What was happening here? Illegal sale of cats for experiments? Sale of cats to cult followers? No, nothing nefarious.
A Code of the West for Animals
Here's the thing about the Code of the West. When I ask who originated the code, I get blank looks. A typical response is: "Well, I don't know the fellow's name, but I assume it was written around the time we settled the West." That's partly right. Cowboys and ranchers of the 1870s and '80s had expectations about keeping your word and sticking by your outfit, but nobody wrote them down as a formal code. That job fell to novelists like Owen Wister and Zane Grey, whose 1934 novel was titled The Code of the West, and to Hollywood after them. The ten-point list that became our state's official code of behavior is far more recent.
Cyanide on the Landscape: the M-44 is Back
It’s not smart to leave cyanide lying about on public land. Cyanide is a potent toxin that, in small amounts (i.e., <1 g), causes lightheadedness, giddiness and rapid breathing, progressing to stupor, spasms, convulsions, and death. Symptoms of acute sodium cyanide poisoning develop rapidly. A published study conducted by personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1980s used M-44 devices (see below) and penned dogs and coyotes to establish a timeline. Symptoms develop at 32 seconds of exposure. Animals are dead within two minutes.
Trap Release Workshops: Perspective from Wyoming Untrapped Founder
Wyoming Untrapped was delighted to partner with WYCAP on a trap-release workshop in Laramie, our second such opportunity. There has been a history of pet-trapping injuries in the area, six in one winter season a few years ago. A second workshop was needed. The turnout was impressive and a kick-start for stronger trapping and snaring education in the southeastern part of the state.
Trap Release Workshop Offers Trap Release Skills to Save Pets
WYCAP, along with Wyoming Untrapped, co-sponsored a free, hands-on Trap Release Workshop in Laramie in October 2025. Two days later, the workshop was offered in Alpine. After a few years’ absence, the workshop was offered again to the Laramie community. The workshop emphasized that “Traps and Trails Don’t Mix”.