SIZE AND CARE OF SKINS.
Mink hides handled right bring from a fourth to a half more in market
than the same hides handled indifferently, says an old Iowa trapper
and buyer. Now I will state it more plainly. Take a medium sized
mink, a male one if handled right will be, when stretched properly,
from 20 to 22 inches long, and from 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide at the
tail, tapering gradually to the nose.
Take the same hide, stretch it over a shingle tapered to a point
being 6 or 8 inches wide at base and a foot long, you will get just
half as much for it as the first one.
I have bought small mink hides about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide
at the base--just as you would stretch a muskrat. Take the same hide,
stretch it 15 or 18 inches long, and you have added 25 per cent. to
the value of the hide. I shipped two large mink hide a short while
ago. They were near of a size and color as could be. One was about 12
inches long, the other about 22 inches and well handled otherwise.
One brought 100 per cent. more than the other.
[Illustration: NICELY HANDLED WISCONSIN SKINS.]
I take common laths heavy as I can get, saw them in two in the
center, plane them smooth, taper the ends of the two round the edges,
make a tapering center piece, stretch the hide over the two outside
pieces. Draw the hide down as far as you possibly can. See that the
nose does not slip off the end of the boards. Now tack the hide on
each side of the tail, putting in 4 tacks, allowing room for your
center piece.
Now you are ready for your center piece. Insert it at the bottom,
press it through gradually, but be careful not to tear the hide from
the tacks that you have already driven in. The center piece will not
always go through the full length. The size of the mink regulates
that part of it. One must have different sizes of boards or laths.
Now turn your hide over, pull down the legs of the mink as tight as
you can and tack, using several tacks. I use large tacks No. 12
three-quarters of an inch long, being sharp as needles.
Most trappers use the one piece stretching board, as they claim the
three piece too much trouble. If the one piece is carefully made,
planed on both sides, and about three-eighths inch thick, it is a
good board. A one fourth board after being planed on both sides is
very good.
In this country there are two varieties, which some naturalists have
supposed were distinct species; one small, dark-colored, common in
the Northern and Eastern States and Canada; the other larger, with
lighter-colored, coarser and less valuable fur, common in the Western
and Southern States. The dark-colored variety measures from eleven to
eighteen inches in length from the nose to the root of the tail, and
has a tail from six to ten inches in length.
[Illustration: SOME PRIME N. E. SKINS.]
The lighter-colored is large and is found in the states of Iowa,
Minnesota, Dakota, Manitoba and adjoining Canadian provinces. It has
been known to reach a weight of five pounds.
Trappers claim they have often secured pelts, without
over-stretching, that were 25 inches long, 4 3/8 inches at root of
tail and 3 1/8 inches at neck. This measurement being from root of
tail to end of nose. From tip of tail to end of nose 35 inches. A few
instances of even larger skins are fairly accurately established.
In the Northeast the skins are much smaller for instead of an
occasional five pound mink one that weighs three is considered large.
Owing to the fine fur and darker color it is worth as much if not
more than skins larger, but caught in a more open section, such as
the Dakotas, Iowa, etc. In the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri, etc., mink are not so large as Northwestern but larger than
Eastern, yet are not worth as much money owing to their color not
being so good.
In the states bordering on the Ohio River as well as Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, etc., there are some cotton mink. In size they may
be as large as any in the section, but the under fur is light, in
fact often white. This greatly lessens their value, so that a
"cotton" mink is often classed as a No. 3 or No. 4.
When it is taken into consideration the various shades of mink, dark,
brown, pale and cotton, and sizes from the different sections, to
which are added Nos. 2, 3 and 4, it can be seen that to know all
about the value of mink one must be in touch with all parts of the
country.
[Illustration: LARGE IOWA MINK.]
Many have asked for a standard size by which to grade mink--large,
medium and small. The standard to be based on prime skins of course.
At first such a plan looks reasonable, but after looking at the
suggestion from all sides it does not appear so.
In the first place prime, large mink vary in weight from 3 to 5
pounds, depending in what section caught. The five pound skin,
usually from an open country, is pale and not so finely furred as a 3
pound one from the Northern New England States or Eastern Canada.
Again, were mink graded by a standard size, they would be
over-stretched.
A dealer who we believe tries to treat all fairly submits the
following measurements for the three sizes--large, medium and small:
Large, 22 inches long, 4 wide at tail, 3 1/2 at neck.
Medium, 18 inches long, 3 1/4 wide at tail, 2 5/8 at neck.
Small, 14 inches long, 2 3/4 wide at tail, 2 1/4 at neck.
The figures are from root of tail (tail not measured) to end of nose.
The measurements as given are intended to be general, including skins
from Southern, Central, Western and Northwestern sections, with the
exceptions already noted, but at the same time it must be kept in
mind that all skins the same size are not worth the same.
It is a good idea to stretch the pelts as soon after removed from the
animal as possible. If allowed to lay around for hours the pelt will
be hard to stretch to its normal size.
If you find a mink drowned and thoroughly water soaked, take it by
the head, just like you were cracking a whip, then by the hind legs
and crack it the same way. The mink will soon be dry. If muddy it
should be washed first.
Pelts should not be put on the boards when the fur is wet. They
should also be removed as soon as thoroughly dry, that is, after the
skin will not shrink. They should be left on boards from three days
to a week, depending on the weather. Do not turn after removing from
boards, but have flesh side out.