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

marshes Of the Atlantic and Gulf
Coasts, but very large considering |
their inland location. In width they |
probably average a mile, widening out
in places and then again contracting. !
In length they extend as far as the eye
can see, and still beyond Here and
| there branches or bays lead away for
miles. These marshes are really the
| fiat land, bordering slow-moving
streams, which the water overHows 10 a
depth varying from six inches to two
feet. They are covered everywhere
with growth Of flags (cat-tails), high
and dense in some parts, scant in
others. Beneath the water is a partly
suspended bed Of thin mud and decay
ed vegetable matter, but down below
that there is firm bottom which safely
supports man in rubber hip boots, I'M
til he breaks into a muskrat tunnel.
Yes, in those marshes there are
muskrats galore-hundreds Of thou
sands, perhaps millions. Of them. !
believe that this expanse Of grass and
water will average Six muskrat houses
to the acre. and the house contain
about FIVE muskrats each. In many
places the animals are found In much
greater numbers and in places. less.
1t was my good fortune to get a
few weeks trapping in that district
last fall, and worked in company with
a local trapper whom will call Frank
Miller, because that isn't his name.
Frank says he doesn't banker for pub
licity, so il you don't mind please give
him some other name. All right Frank,
your name is Miller. Frank Is young
business man because he makes bust
ness OF trapping and works it on a
grand, systematic scale. His home is
conveniently located on his little farm
half mile or Whereabouts from the
edge Of his trapping ground. No
doubt if he were to give his entire time
and energy to farming he would make
good money at that occupation, but his
harvest is the muskrat crop, and he
|
tban he could possibly wrest from the
same number of acres OF farm land.
He owns about five hundred acres and
rents as much more. He tells me that
it is nothing unusual for him to clear
five thousand dollars a year, and |
have TO reason to doubt it, for Frank
is truthful man, and then too | have
| have seen enough of his work to be
able to form an estimate of his earn
ings. But Frank does not do all Of the
trapping himself. This season he has
two other men trapping for him on
fixed wages, and he has his own trap
line on which he display a wonderful
energy.
These three men set and tend about
400 traps each and do not need to tell
you that they are as busy as they can
be from before daylight until after
dark. A catch Of hundred rats per
man is not uncommon if the night has
been good one, but conditions must
, be just so. On just plain, ordinary
nights the catch per trapper will vary
} from almost nothing to forty or fifty
muskrats. Frank was figuring on a
combined catch of 1000 muskrats for
the season, which commences Novem-
Der 10th and closes April 10th. He
counted on catch Of thousand be-
fore the ice formed, another thousand
during the winter and two thousand in
the spring. | have heard that he over
ran the figure set for the fall catch
How he is making out this winter, I
don't know.
Before the season opens these men
make extensive preparations for the
TALL trapping. They spend days cutting
stakes and storing them at convenient
places in the marsh. They also e,
over all their traps, making what re
pairs are needed, and carry the trapI
also out into the marsh where they can
get tncm as needed. OF course each
man has aready selected the ground
or water, on Whl-h 20 operate. The
TWO hired trappCrS used boats ami
worked from the center of the marsh
where the wafer was little deeper and
more np~n Frank trapped nearer to
the border and waded over his line. 1t
is not an easy matter to wade marsh
all day long, weighted down with 2
S load of traps, stakes and drowned
: muskrats, without losing your balance
and going down into the icy water.
The modus operand of muskrat
trapping as practiced in this locality is
about nc fnllnuc. The ..nnnA IL