Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-07-11
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
MAKING THE FUR FLY

Mllh1NU LILLE W.
Naturalists all over the United
States are worrying ove the prob
able extinction OF certain OF our
| mammals due to the decree OF
| fashion that women wear furs all
four seasons of the year. Museums
are Fastening to obtain specimens
| for their collections before it Is
| too late. Newspapers say that We
are enriching the interior of Africa
| by wearing monkey fur on our gar
ments. Soon some of the animals
! which exist in abundance today will
be in the class with the dodo and
the aux.
ut is only by educating the Ameri-
| can public to the need for periods of
protection for these animals that
we will be able to preserve n OF
| the country's most valuable assets
| for the enjoyment and profit of fu-
ture generations" says a bulletin of
the National Geographic Society
from it's Washington, D. c., head
quarters.
Seals Exterminatcd From
Pacific Island
IAN expedition to the island of
Guadalupe Oft the coast of Lower
California, which the National
Geographic Society recently helped
finance for the purpose of finding IL
any specimens of the fur seals
which once lived there in great
colonies still were to be found,
proved conclusively that no traces
of these animals have appeared on
the island for many years. They
have ben exterminated by unscrup-
ulous fishermen. Unless the public
comes to appreciate the danger
menacing many of our other fur
bearers throughout the country, their
life story may soon be that of the
seal.
ut has been estimated that Ameri-
ca spends yearly 100000, 600 for
fur garments, the trade OF fur mer-
chants in raw and manufactured
furs for import and export trade in
New York alone being about $685.
000, 1000.
And for such a trade Billy Beaver
Tommy Marten, Jackie Skunk, and
Harry Muskrat-to slip into the
nomenclature of bedtime stories
are not only paying with their lives
but with the threatened existence
of their kind. The high prices which
have been offered for their pelts
lave led to intensive trapping, t.
the clearing of woodland and to the
draining of marshes. In many parts
of our country beavers and martens
have been exterminated. and eve
Alaska is beginning to worry abou
the growing scarclty of fur-bearine
animals within her boundaries.
Muskrats Raise Mortgages
Some OF the States of the Unior
have realized the danger into which
they have fallen and are establish.
ing close periods for some of the
o valuable of the f~ur-bearers
Until a few years ago the farmer
who had marshland infested with
muskrats on his farm voiced violent
prejudice against the little animals
and set out to exterminate them
now that same farmer knows that
these muskrats can become as
valuable as any of the livestock on
mis- place. He protects them during
the mating season, and takes only
a reasonable number of pelts for
market during the dead of winter
when the fur is good.
The great demand for furs has
leo TO the rapid increase OF fur
FARMING throughout this country
Canada. Recent reports say
That there are already about 500 FOX
farms In Canada alone and that the
owners OF them are growing wealthy
on their profits. The small fur bear r
ers are very prolific and there are
millions OF acres of land in this
country where they would IpultinIv
In CRATE numbers If they were given
| fhe nFnnor .
lntelIlgence were exercised in taking
the pelts.
Government Working Out Fur
Farming Problems
The United States Biological
| Survey has been making an inten-
sive study of the best methods of
raising uild animals in captivity,
and reports that foxes have been
raised with great success. Silver
| foxes, Blue foxes, skunks and musk
rats can be raised successfully, and
further Investigations are being
made into the possibility of raising
minks, martens and fishers, which
up to the present time do not breed
in captivity or else produce inferior
animals.
Various methods have been sug-
gested for bringing the fur supply
within the neighborhood of the de-
mand. Large tracts in various parts
| of the country could be set aside
as permanent preserves. 1t has also
| been suggested that the National
Forests might be administered as
game preserves, the National For
ests of Colorado alone being capable
of producing 500, 900 worth of fur
leach year by the conservation of the
wild animals which already live
within their confines"