Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-12-09

nha-
nouls. Frank himself has ssi, n 4"
muskrats' on bet, in Just thin; ,an''
onds; He skins many Of HE r n. Sec.
on the marsh so that he W. y'a sa;a
weighted down with the carcss ., not ).
o,hers he carries out to the e.. II.
after night he drives over g.;.s 's' al:
and brings them home. Ism, , -, al''
to-date trapping? mat Up
These trappers skin all ,b.,
rats from the head, and s,rs.at musk.
willow bows. Perhaps it is Ho, usn o.
way but it is the quickest and VIZ as oe''
method. From the point Of n" 'I easIss,
skin is ripped almost half s, "s'3 the
the under side of the BODY. The, -..n
deit strokes Of a knife on e. ,In no
SKIN the head. The front leo. N'e
ara~n up pulled loose, and III. usn
"rn on from the feet, 1t require. s .Na
few knife strokes and few, , OnF
remove the pelt to the hind fee, '+ rS -"
1! is cut or torn loose, and las,Iv ~
from the tail by Just two s,rotas s, cut
keen edged knife. The odd 49,. y, TIE
1t is that the work seems n bs asOu'
slowly, Mrs. Miller in particular r r"'a
appearing to hurry. '
The willow sticks used .or .,...,
ing the skin are straight, of even ,b;.a
ness, being about half inch ,bioL
the maximum. The stick is ca,s,,,,
bent in the middle, shaped to q ,or,,
bow form, and pushed into the eli"
The skin is then draw I'd and o~.a
made through the part that covered -.
side of the rats head, into the how !,
sell. This cut is then pred one, ~.
giving the knife a twist, and the .t.s
sinks into the cut. A similar Gu, in II.
other side fastens the skin firmly on N.
bow. Wv
| "Rats are hard to understand" Franz
says land just when you think YOU b,v,
learned something about their babi,,
something else happens that shows tn,
your theory is all wrong. For instanc,
in the fall comes a day when we m,t.
an exceptional catch, and we saw n.
previous night was a good one for rat,
to be out. Another night comes soo,
that seems to be identical, but instead
OF finding the big catch that we expee,
we get only dozen or so. There or,
nights that all precedents advertise q,
an ideal one for muskrats, but when "
60 out in the marsh next morning, ",
find that only a few rats have come M,
! OF the houses. and they only taken ,
turn OF a rod or two from the house.
have made record catches when III,
first snow fell, also when the water
was rising, but if were to count on
conditions as presaging an exception.
ally heavy catch, there's a strong DOS.
sibility that | would be very much dis.
appointed. One thing am sure Of
and that is that when the flags are DIV
and the breeze rustles them, the musk.
rats are afraid and keep pretty close
at home.
"As rule we get only few really
| good days in the fall but the first Of tn.
, season is the time when we are keyed
UP and full Of enthusiasm. 1t is hard
to keep it up when the ice comes and
the north winds sweep over the marsh
, but we keep line of traps out just the
same. 1t is quite easy to trap rats then
and although it is cold work, the fur i,
good. and with rats at three dollars each
you bet we work. You don't have 10
catch many to make days wages. In
the spring is when we make our kill.
ing. From the first Of April TO the
twentieth we sure do hustle. There
are days when we find rat in almost
every trap. The water is high in the
spring and the muskrats work out to.
wards the edge Of the marsh. You can
stick trap down almost anywhere
then and get rat"
Traps rust out rapidly in the marsh
Each year several dozens of the older
ones have to be replaced, while others
are lost and Frank buys a barre, OF NO.
| Victors nearly every summ-r 10
addition TO the losses he b. going MO
the trapping deeper each s-a"0 anu
every fail he feels the need .1reef
number Of traps. &C..
1t would do you good TO SEQ ranks
fur loft in the heign, OF IN. a'or
MuskratS skins hanging or ... "rss.
rank after rank ear a.r0 room.
He sells to buyer who cone, 20 n''
house for the fur, and he e-'s 3 n"'
rate for all grades. He ami his ouye'
draw up and sign a contract !or NV
seasons catch and neither can WIN
draw, no matter whether the Pr'''