Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-12-13
NAMES FUR PRODUCE.
Animals That Have Not Yet Fallen Victims
to the Trapper's Shares.

to the 1fapperS SHbfcss
Among the animals that are still trap
red in Maine, whose furs are sought after
by the buyers, are the sable, lynx and
fsher, which are confined To wooded, UNI
,;ettled regions Of the state. The sable Is
4 tree climber and is caught in small steel
tsaps set on the side of a leaning tree. The
fisher is called by some the "black cat
end inhabi,s mountainous regions. Tho
lynx is quite numerous in the northern
rart of the state and is similar to the bob
rat, only larger. He is taken in steel traps
aud is a sort Of scavenger. A piece OF fowl
or a abbit is fayorite bait.
Bears are still plenty in parts OF tho
northern wilderness. They arc OF the black
variety, although a cinnamon is OCCASION
SLY met with Deadfalls and steel traps
ere sometimes used in taking bruln, but
the most successful way il by n set gun.
"A headless barrel is laid down near the
'haunts of the bear, and hole is bored
Through one side about equally distant
!between the head and bottom, so that 1t
Twill come about foot from the ground.
THE gun is then placed in position outside
sthe barrel with the muzZle pointing
through the hole, protruding perhaps An
inch on the inside Another hole is bored
through the center Of the bottom Of the
barrel, through which is pulled the end
of cord which passes outside over pull
lev and is attached to the trigger OF the
gun. To the inside end OF the string IL
fastened the bait, which Is usually smear
ed with honey, dainty morsel for bruin.
The bear crawls into the barrel after the
bait, pulls the string, the gun il discharg-
ed. and thers il dead bear. New
Brunswick man who markets his pclts
down on the Kennebec once killed four
bears within Is minutes.
One OF the most valuable fur bearing an-
imals indigenous to the state is the otter,
which is amphibious. IL is now seldom
found outside the frozen regions, but oc-
casonally pair of them are seen around
the lakes in the colder parts OF the state.
He is not abundant in any part OF the
state and is always crafty and sly, so that
1t is difficult to catch him.
OF the fur bearing animals which man.
age TO keep company with civilization
the fox. mink, muskrat, raccoon and skunk
arc the only ones with marketable pelts.
or these none is better known than the
red fox. which Is everywhere present, the
f.r always being in demand There are
(cw oliver foxes in the state. Aprime sill
vc- fo.skin is worth from $50 to 500.
TIN therc are silver gray foxes. which are
u efces between silver and the red, and
thc wood fox, the progeny OF the silver
g.ay and the red. Buyers say that fox
iur5 from the provinces are OF q better
ouslitg than the Maine product, being
heavier and larger.
Mink are quite abundant around the
Kennekec lakes. They are captured In
steel traps, and fayorite way OF hunting
them Is with mink dogs, which run the
animals into hole, where they are dug
out, or drive them into the water TO fall
before the gun OF the hunter. The mink
Is traveller, and an old trapper says that
many OF them retreat TO the seacoast IN
the fall, spending the winter there, where
food is plenty, and going inland In the
spring. Others, he states, remain by the
shores of some lake or stream and live BY
diving beneath the ice and catching fish.
He has seen the splintered end OF an old
decayed log stuck full OF fish, where they
had been placed by mink for future con-
sumption. The most abundant fur pro-
ducing animal in the state which swims
! In the water is the muskrat- He has al
ways multiplied despite the trappers.--
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