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A man walking his dogs along a popular trail in Minneapolis came upon two animal traps, baited and poised to snap with the first disturbance.

The traps were near the creek along the Shingle Creek Regional Trail just west of Penn and 52nd avenues N., said Caroline Hairfield, director of Minneapolis Animal Care and Control.

The state Department of Natural Resources collected the traps and said Thursday it is trying to figure out who is responsible for setting them.

Chris Koch, the man who came upon the traps, safely sprung them before handing them over to Animal Care and Control. Koch said he was walking his two Labs when something about 15 to 20 feet off the path, along the creek, caught his eye.

He snapped one trap shut with a branch and the other with a stick before taking them home and contacting authorities.

DNR spokesman Joe Albert said they were baited with peanut butter and lacked the legally required identification tagging.

Hairfield said traps of this design are legal in Minnesota for trapping various fur-bearing animals but violate city ordinance in Minneapolis, whether on public or private land.