The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1903-01-06

STILL ACTIVE
Trade in the Skins Of Fur Bearing
Animals is a Popular
Industry.
MANY PELTS ARE Quite VALUABLE,

Trafficking in the skins of fur bear
ing animals is an active industry in
Stark county, in spite Of the popular
belief that the trapper vanished with
the Indian and the forests. The most
Of the animals which yield market
able fur are caught by country boys,
and while no one catches great num-
ber, yet the sum total In the county is
sufficient to warrant persons in max
ing a business of buying pelts and
hides, and almost every town has some
one who is anxious to buy from the
trappers. Canton has one such deal
er, and he buys hundreds of skins
every year.
Some of the buyers are itinerant,
however, and travel about from farm
to farm picking up a sheep pelt here,
coon skin, fox hide, o. the furry COW
ering of the odoriferous skunk. They
can generally be detected by the OIL
factories, as like a vase in which
roses have once been distilled" the
odor hangs round them for many
days
In every community there is trap
per who claims to be professional.
During the winter months he does
little else, and during the summer
months, as a rule, the neighbors say,
he does not hurt himself with ardu-
Gus toll. Trappers, as rule, are
characters. They study the habits of
the animals they seek to capture, and
have many little eccentricities and be-
liefs that are almost superstitions.
Possibly the most numerous Of all
fur bearing animals of value are the
skunks. They are not a popular ami
NAL with the general public, as they
have a fashion of making themselves
Objectionable on short acquaintance.
When their fur reaches the market in
the shape of manufactured articles of
wear, they are not sold for what they
are. No society lady would boast of
wearing skunk furs. The garment
that they are manufactured into are
given some high-sounding name and
are popular for the lustre and beauty.
These animals are often called pole
cats. This is erroneous, as they are
not pole cats, although belonging to
the same family. They are much more
numerous than people suppose and are
found in large numbers right in the
suburbs Of Canton. There is hardly
farm but has a den or two of them.
In the winter they are gregarious, and
sometimes from four to seven or eight
will be found in single den. They
are not trapped, as rule, but when
they are tracked to their den, the
hunter digs into them, well knowing
that he may find half-dozen or more
as a reward for his labor.
Some skunk hunters become very
expert in killing them without the
usual unpleasant odors. II the animal
is allowed to walk out of the hole
without being molested too much, af-
ter the end of the den has been almost
reached, a sharp blow upon upon the
back with club will break the spine
and produce complete paralysis, SO
that the animal has no power of ex-
pelling its perfume.
Three years ago the farmers sue
ceeded In getting law passed by the
legislature protecting skunks from the
hunter, but it was repealed as the
trappers threatened vengeance upon
the representatives for depriving them
Of their trade. Skunk hides sell at
from 40 cents to $1.10, according to
the time OF the year taken and the
amount of black upon them. A Jet
black skin caught in the real cold
weather brings the highest price.
Some of the animals are more than
half white, being the only wild ami
NAL OF this section Of the country
that shows such variation in color.
The other animals that are caught
because of the value of their fur are
the fox. coon. mink. muskrat and
opossum. Dealers will also buy cat
hides and sheep pelts.
Fox are quite numerous and many
of them are killed every year in
Stark county. They are more numer-
GUS in the southern part. where the
land is cut up with ravines and there
are hills. thickets and more timber
They are trapped to some extent, but
the most Of them are tracked upon the
snow and shot while asleep or killed
while running before the hounds.
Their skins are worth from 81 to So,
and enter into the best of furs.
Mink skins are valuable. These
animals are found about the streams
and lakes. and are the hardest of all
the fur bearing animals to catch with
ordinary traps. Deadfalls and devices
that look as IL nature instead of man
had fashioned them are used to catch
the wary fellows, but when they are
caught good specimen brings So.
Coon skins bring as hiph no n 60
when In prime fur. but the poorer
skins bring as low as 80 cents. Coons
are not often caught In traps, but are
hunted at night with dogs. or track
ed to their dens and the trees cut,
when the little fellows are easy porey
Muskrats are as easily caught in q
trap as a common house rat. Almost
any kind of bait will attract them al.