Handling Raw Furs and Other Notes.
Boys, as you are nearly all in from the trap line and the trail,
(May, 1910), I am going to take the opportunity to give the younger
trappers (and some of the older ones, too) a drubbing. I would like
to see every trapper get all that his furs are worth and I would not
like to see one-half the value of your furs go, simply because you
neglected to skin and stretch your catch as it should be.
During the past winter I was in town one day and met a fur buyer and
he asked me to go over and see his bunch of furs, saying, "I am going
to ship the furs tomorrow." I went with the fur dealer and found that
he had a lot of stuff, several hundred dollars worth of furs,
consisting of fox, coon, skunk, mink, and muskrat, some wildcat. A
good part of this bunch of furs had been caught at least a month
before it should have been. Of this unprime fur I will have but
little to say. I am sorry to know that any trapper will throw away
his time and money by trapping furs before the fur is in reasonably
prime condition.
This dealer had many coon and skunk that had from one-half to a pound
of grease left on the skin. I asked the dealer if he was going to
ship those pelts with all that grease on. His reply was, that he was
going to ship the furs just as they were and added that he did not
pay anything for that fat, and only half what the skins were worth if
they had been handled right. I suggested that he would have to pay
express charges on that grease. The dealer said that he could not
help that, signifying that he had made that up in buying the furs. I
called the dealer's attention to a very good black skunk skin, that
had been badly skinned and stretched and asked what he paid for such
a pelt. He said that he did not remember, but he knew that he did not
pay $3 for a hide that looked like that. Now this skunk skin was
spoiled so far as the looks went, if not in real value, and it at
least gave the dealer a good excuse to put that pelt in the third or
fourth grade. The trapper, in skinning this skunk, had ripped down on
the inside of the forelegs and across the belly three or four inches
up from the tail. The proper way being to begin at the heel, ripping
straight down the leg and close to the under side of the tail. Then
carefully cut around the roots of the tail and work the skin loose
from the tail bone until the bone can be taken between the fingers on
one hand and with the other hand draw the tail bone clear from the
tail.
In this pelt the tail bone had been cut off close to the body and
left in the tail. In stretching this skin the trapper had made a
wedge-shaped board. The board was at least four inches wider at the
broad end than it should have been and then sharpened off to a point.
I think it best to make the stretching board in width and length in
proportion to the animal, slightly tapering the board up to where the
neck of the animal joined to the shoulders, then taper and round up
the board to fit the neck and head of the animal. The tapering from
the shoulders to the point of the nose of course would necessarily be
longer on a board for a fox or mink than that of a muskrat or coon,
which would need to be more rounding. There are some good printed
patterns for stretching boards for sale.
I have noticed that some trappers have holes in the broad end of
their stretching boards and hang up their furs while drying with the
head of the animal hanging down. Now I think that is a wrong idea. It
is not a natural way for the fur on the animal to lay, pitching
towards the head of the animal, and especially if there is any
grease, blood, or other matter that would dry, causing the fur to
stick out like the quills on a fretful porcupine.
Now, boys, let us get into the habit of getting more money out of our
catch of furs by removing the greater part of the fat from the skins;
also by taking a little more time to skin and stretch the furs that
we catch; also by doing less early and late trapping, when the fur is
not in a fairly prime condition. I am pleased to see so many of the
trappers in Pennsylvania advocating a closed season on the furbearers
of this state, though I think that they seem to be in favor of a
longer open season than will be to the trapper's advantage.
* * *
Comrades of the trap line, are you awake to the conditions under
which we must work? The dog man has no use for the trapper and his
traps. Now comrades, while I am a lover of the dog, and have used him
on the trap line and trail, I have, nevertheless used the dog for a
different purpose than it is ordinarily used by the average
sportsman. I hope the trappers throughout the country will arouse
themselves to the conditions and not allow the legislation of their
respective states to pass laws to put the trapper in the hole, at the
pleasure of the dog man, as has been done here in Pennsylvania. (This
was written Spring of 1912.)
I believe that the dog man and the trapper, are each entitled to
equal privileges--the dog has no better friend than the writer.
Though we do not blame our brother trapper, who will not put up as
good a scrap in defense of his traps and his sport and occupation, as
does the dog man in defense of his dog, and his way of enjoying an
outdoor life. But comrades, we are all men and sportsmen in our way,
and let us be reasonable in this matter; but brother trappers, let us
not take a back seat because we may not be possessed with as large an
amount of worldly goods as some of the dog men may be.
Express your views upon this matter of the trappers' rights through
the columns of Hunter-Trader-Trapper. Also with our respective
representatives that they may not pass game laws that the trapper is
compelled to ignore, as is the case here in Pennsylvania. Here they
ask for a bounty on noxious animals, yet, the law forbids the setting
of a trap in a manner that would take anything more wary or greater
than the weasel. Was this law enacted wholly for the benefit and
pleasure of the dog man?
Now I wish to speak of another matter that I think is greatly to the
interest of the trapper, and that is, early and late trapping.
No, no, I do not mean morning and evening--I refer to trapping early
and late in the season. And while I do not approve of putting out
traps too early in the season, it is far better that we begin
trapping in October, than it is to continue trapping until into
March, for such animals as mink, fox and skunk begin to fade, or
become rubbed, while the mink that is caught in October, has nearly
its full amount of fur. Still, the flesh side of the skin is a little
dark, which gives the dealer a chance to quote the skins as unprime,
notwithstanding the pelt has its full value as to fur purpose. And as
to furs caught in March, the dealer has a chance to quote "springy."
And brother trappers of the States, do not put off your shipments of
furs until late in March. It has been my experience where furs are
shipped late in the spring, the returns are marked "springy,"
"rubbed," etc., notwithstanding the skins, or at least part of them,
may have been caught in December or January.
Comrades, let us work for our own interest, for no one will do it for
us. And, Comrades, you are certainly aware that the dog man is
playing every card to put the trapper in the hole.
* * *
Comrades of the trap line and trail, I wish to ask your ideas as to
whether it is advisable to stick to the taking of the fur and game
late and early, all the year around. We know that we all like the
sport, and the trapper is a little greedy, as well as people of other
occupations. But, is it wise to take a mink, fox or other fur bearing
animal so late or early in the season that the skin is not worth more
than one-third of what the same skin would have brought in a prime
condition?
On the 18th day of March, 1912, a neighbor, who had put in many a day
on the trap line with the writer, a man who with his three younger
brothers makes a business of trapping every season and makes good
money, came to my house with a female fox skin that he had just
caught. I glanced at the skin and remarked that the skin was of but
little value. My friend replied in an angry tone, "No. It ain't!" And
that is not the worst of it--she would have soon had five young
foxes. I said, "You will keep it right up, won't you, Fred." "No, I
am done now," he answered. But I said, "Fred, that is what you say
every year."
The skin was large for a female fox, and had it been caught any time
from November to the last of January, it would have brought five or
six dollars; but the best that he could get for the skin was three
dollars. This is only one case of many, which came under my
observation, and especially in the case of taking skunks after they
are so badly rubbed that they will not bring more than half the price
of prime skins.
Now in the case mentioned above, of the female fox, the loss in the
price of the skin was small compared to that of the young foxes whose
skins would have been worth, next November, or December, in the
neighborhood of twenty dollars. In this particular case, my friend
would have got the most of those young foxes if not all of them, for
the fox den was on his premises, and not far from his house.
Now, comrades, let us stop this catching of unprime furs--it is our
bread and butter. Let us stop wasting it, for there are but few
trappers, who have any more of this world's goods than he needs. Let
every trapper do all that he can to put a stop to this waste of fur
by catching the fur bearers, when their skins are not more than
one-half their value--and many are taken that are practically worthless.
We must do all that is in our power to stop a wasteful slaughter of
the fur bearing animals, for they are already becoming far too
scarce; both for the trappers' benefit, as well as those who wear the
finished goods.
Comrades, instead of slaughtering the fur bearers during the season
of unprime furs, let us look up our trapping grounds, for the coming
season, and have all preparations made, and our plans well laid. Then
when the season of prime furs arrives, let us take to the trap line
and follow it diligently for two or three months, then drop the fox,
skunk, mink, coon and opossum and put in more time on beavers,
otters, and muskrats.
This applies to the middle, northern and southern states, while those
in the far north, can, of course, continue to take the fox, mink,
etc., longer, but it is not good policy for the northern trapper,
even to keep up the good work so long as to "kill the goose that lays
the golden egg."
* * *
I notice that some of the comrades are complaining that they do not
get a square deal from some of the fur buyers. Shame! shame!
brothers. Do you not know that the Fur Dealer is not even making a
living profit out of your pelts? That is the reason why there are so
many in the business. And do they not always urge the trapper to send
in his furs early for fear there will be a drop in the price, and the
poor trapper will lose on the price of his furs? Now, boys, can't you
see that the average fur buyer is awfully good to the poor trapper?
But comrades, are not we, the trappers, partly to blame for this
unfair deal? Are we careful that our furs are at least fairly prime
and carefully cured and handled? Are we always careful when making
our estimate to give a fair grade ourselves?
This, comrades, we should always be careful to do, and then we should
never ship our furs only to parties who are willing to hold them
until they have quoted what price they can pay for the bunch. If the
prices are not satisfactory, the fur dealer should have agreed with
the shipper before the furs were shipped to him to pay one-half of
all express charges, and either return the furs to the shipper or to
any house in their city that the shipper may designate.
Now, comrades, make some such bargain with your dealer, and if you do
not get a square deal do not be shy in giving the transaction with
the dealer's name.
* * *
Comrades of the trap line, come down to camp and let us talk over
this question of the fast disappearance of the furbearing animals.
The fact of timber becoming scarce has made nearly every one
timber-mad--no, that is not right, I mean money-mad--and they wish to
secure this money through the fast increasing value of timber. In the
late sixties, right here in sight of where I am sitting, I saw as
nice white pine cut and put into log heaps, burned up for the purpose
of clearing the land, as ever grew.
Now, boys, I liken the trapper and the dig-'em-out and the dog-hunter
to our ancestors in the wasting of timber, only our ancestors at that
time could not see the value of the timber that they were wasting.
The trapper, the dig 'em-out and the dog-hunter are all money-mad,
made so by the high prices of fur. But unlike our ancestors, the
trapper, dig'em-out and dog-hunter should be able to see the folly in
taking the furbearers when in an unprime condition, because we all
know the difference in the value of a fox, a skunk, a mink, or the
skin of any other fur-bearing animal taken in September or late in
the spring when unprime, than the same skins would be worth if taken
in November or any month during the winter.
I trapped in three different states in the South last season (1912)
and I met with trappers and dog-hunters who admitted that they
trapped and hunted in September. We saw one trapper who had four
large mink also quite a bunch of other furs, consisting of coon,
muskrats, civet and skunk; the trapper said that the mink were caught
last September or the first of October. He wanted six dollars for the
four mink. Just think of those four large mink being offered for six
dollars and he could not get a buyer at that price. The rest of his
early caught furs ranked with the same grade as the mink. Comrades,
just think that over and see how foolish we are to begin trapping so
early in the season. These same mink, had they been caught the last
of November or in December, would have been worth, easily, six or
seven dollars apiece. This same party had two mink that he had caught
the first of November and he asked five dollars apiece for them and
they were not near as large as those caught in September.
Now, brothers of the trap line, the most of us will admit that we are
not overstocked with worldly goods and we are not to be blamed for
getting a little money-mad; but when we get so money-mad that it
makes us so blind that we not only destroy our pleasure but we throw
away from twenty-five cents on a muskrat and four to six dollars on a
fox or mink we should stop and think!
While out in camp on our fishing trips this summer, let us invite all
of the boys of the neighborhood to come and let us talk this matter
over with them and show them how lame we are to indulge in this early
and late trapping and hunting of the furbearing animals. Let us
induce the boys to become readers of the H-T-T, one of the greatest
sporting magazines of the world, and through the columns of this
magazine, put up their fight for the protection of the furbearer and
the song birds. Unless the trapper puts up his own fight for the
protection of the furbearers, they will soon be exterminated. The
dog-man is now trying to place a tariff on the trappers' bread and
butter in placing a bounty on the furbearer to induce the money-mad
trapper to destroy the furbearer during the summer when their fur is
worthless.
Also, let us have a little chat with the dig 'em-outs or
den-destroyers. Boys, what is the difference how the skunk or coon is
caught, whether by the steel trap or by dig'em-outs or by the dog; if
the animal is caught is it gone, isn't it all the same? Well, it
looks to the fellow up the tree as though there was quite a
difference. Now comrades, if we dig out a skunk, that den, that
habitation is gone, is it not, and there is nothing left to induce
other skunks to frequent that location. Now, as to hunting the coon
and possum with the dog, two-thirds of the time the coon or possum is
treed in a den tree or rock and the tree is cut down and the rock or
other den is destroyed and you will get no more coon or possum at
that place. If this work of destroying the dens of the skunk and the
coon is thoroughly practiced, the dens will soon be gone and with the
disappearance of the dens the skunk and the coon also disappear. If
the dig'em-out or dog hunter, when he found that he must destroy a
den in order to get his game, would leave it or get the animals in
some other way without destroying the den, then there could be no
objection to the dig'em-outs or to dog-hunting.
Now, comrades, I will give some of my own experience in regard to
this destroying of den trees. I trapped for a short time around a
slough or pond in Alabama two years ago. The large timber in the
vicinity of this pond was mostly oak and lumbermen were cutting this
timber and taking it out. Coon were quite plentiful around this pond
when I first began trapping there but I soon noticed that signs were
fast disappearing and I could not think what the cause was. I went to
another pond or rather a swamp about two miles from this pond where I
again found coon quite plentiful.
Not long after I had moved my traps to this other slough a party of
negroes came to my camp; they had five dogs. I inquired what luck
they were having and they complained that since the timber had been
cut around Swan Pond there were no den trees for coon or possum and
they were all gone. When these colored people told me what the
trouble was I could readily account for the fast disappearance of the
coon signs about the pond. I went to the same pond again this past
season and while I found a few signs I did not consider it worthwhile
to put out a line of traps so I went on to the swamp and put out my
traps. It made me two miles further travel in that direction but it
paid me just the same.
Comrades, let us induce all the boys to come to camp where we can
consult with them and let us get a move on us and locate our trapping
grounds and make all preparations for the trapping season. This will
enable us when the fur is prime to make more money in two months than
we do in four months when we indulge in this September and unprime
fur trapping. At the same time we will be able to lift our traps
while there is still some of the furbearers left and we have not
"killed the goose that lays the golden egg."