The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-04-01

| lHStOn oregon, ldahO ana Montana was
upward of 81, 833, 900 in 1899. CALIFORNIA;
mink and beaver skin product alone
| during the same year was about $67 900
There has been very little diminutior
| in the number of black bear skins in the
last ten years, but grizzly bear skins
especially sllver-tips, have become very
much scarcer this side of the Canadian
! line. Nowadays the trappers of this
region derive their greatest income
from the sale of buckshins and mink
skiing. For some reason the number of
these fur-bearng animals has increased
notably during the present generation.
Skunk, coon and muskrat skins are as
abundant as when the old-t time trappers
roamed this region over fer the John
Jacob Aston company. The most valu-
able animal ever taken in the foothills
fox, one to two hundred dollars being
sometimes paid for single first class
specimen. The fur consists of a thick
coat of short dark hair, overlaid with
much longer but more scattering hairs
of glistening silver gray, producing a
wonderfully beautiful effect. The beau
ty and value of an individual skin de-
pends mainly upon the shade of the I'M
DERIVING coat of thick dark hair for the
darker it is the greater will be the con-
trast between it and the long, silvery
hair above.
Strange to say, some very fine silver
foxes have been captured near Van
couver, B. c., the last not more than
three years ago, although the island has
been inhabited for more than seventy
years. Probably the explanation of
their continued existence there lies in
the fact that the silver fox is exceed
ingly cunning and difficult to catch.
1t is difficult to give the value of most
fnrs. There are many dealers in New
York, Boston, Chicago and other places,
and their circulars are constantly arriv-
ing at every post office in this region,
addressed ITO Any Trapper or Dealer
in Raw Furs," but their quotations are
apt to be indefinite For instance,
dealer prints at the head Of his price
list the words: Quotations are for full
furred large No. skins for lower
grades we allow full value to u.s."
Running down the column one finds:
Cross fox, value according to size
general beauty and richness dark, $40
and $40" The dealer always reserves
the right to determine the grade Of the
fur, and the trapper who sends him a
fine cross fox skin expecting to get
twenty dollars for it is likely to receive
only ten dollars or even less. Some
trappers prefer to sell to country store
keepers, with whom they can make a
bargain before parting with their goods.
Taking the highest figures often quo
ted, the silver fox heads the list, with
the bear second at forty, fifty and even
seventy-f1ve dollars. Then come the
fisher and the cross fox at twenty dol
lars, the otter eighteen dollars, beaver
fifteen dollars; wolverine ten dollars;
lynch and black raccoon six dollars;
wolf and marten, five dollars, and 80 on
down through the list of smaller and
more common animals, such as mink.
skunk badger, wildcat, red and gray
fox and muskrat. The lowest is the
rabbit, worth one or two cents
For ordinary trapping the deadfall is
preferred by trappers to the steel trap.
Deadfalls are excellent for mink skunk,
narten, opcssum and coon. In fact, al
most any kind of fur-bearing animals
can be caught In these traps, with the
of the fox which is rarely
,aught In any kind of trap. Mink trap |
ping IL considered by most trappers the
most difficult part Of their vocation, and |
almost every old-time trapper has some |
oct theory on the subject There are |
ew more distrtIstfui creatures on four I
q 700 n ,,ly r1,a of,,l ~, ,,F
,apturing minks is to set a trap along a I
stream where mink tracks are seen; a i
shallow hole Is dug on the bank of the
tream; bit of chicken or rabbit is !
Ised for bait: Great care is exercised |
o conceal the trap and it's chain by |
Grass, leaves and earth and extra care
must be taken lest the concealment of
he trap be overdene. The smallest in
location that a human being has been
n the locality will scare the hungriest
mink away from the bait. Some trap
'ers smoke their traps over burning fur
nd smoke their own boots and hands,
0 make sure that all scent of a human
eing is removed from the traps The
est location for mink trap is where
ONE mountain brook joins larger
tream and where the banks are steep.
| mink is almost certain to follow up
he branch for few rods at least when
e cuts across to the main stream
gain There Is as much in knowing
here to set a trap as there is in know
lg how to net it. There is no pelt that
as varied 60 much In value during the
list twenty years as mink. Twenty !
ears ago mink skins sold for six dol
IRIS and upward for strictly large No. 1.
light years ago the same pelts could II
OF be sold for more than fifty cents. I
o-day they are worth about dollar.
Most furs are at their best in March {
nd April, but deer, moose, elk and an {
dope skins, which are valued mainly ]
II the hides, will bring higher prices 7
killed later in the summer or early in I
lie fall. These pelts are usually sold Y
Y the pound and vary, according to | t
lality, mode of curing and age, from e
venty to forty-seven cents a pound. IL
The most valuable pelt got on this |
Is the otter. 1t can never be r
appel and can only be had by shoot q
g as it rolls in among the breakers t
ong the upper Pacific shore Forty / h
ears ago the sea offers were twenty |
mes more numerous than to-day, and | Il
ere Is good reason to believe that | t
zen years hence the animal will be i,
ell nigh extinct on the shores of Ore | f.
N, Washington and British Columbia T
good pelt of a sea otter always brings s