The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-02-21
FUR FARMING NEW
STATE INDUSTRY
MUSKRAT AND BEAVER BREED
ING GAINS HEADWAY in
VARIOUS COMMUNITIES
Swamp and Marsh Land, Good for
Little Else, Can Be Used Profitably
in Farming Muskrat and Beaver.

Fur farming offers an opportun-
ity to those in Montana who have
the proper kind Of land and who
will make a study of the habits of
wild animals, in the opinion of @.
A. Jakways, state game warden.
For a number of years commercial
propagation of fur bearing animals
has been proving increasingly profit
able to those who have made a sue
cess of such ventures and the new in
dustry is capable of considerably
greater expansion in Montana, Jak-
ways believes.
1t is the opinion of the Montana
warden that if those who possess
swamp or marsh land and who have
intentions of draining it would for
sake these intentions and use the
property in it's present state for the
farming of fur that, with reasonable
luck and effort more profit would be
derived than would prove the case
after the expense of the draining has
been incurred.
Game wardens throughout the Uni
ted States are interested in prevent
ing the reclamation of the remain
ing areas of swamp land, believing
that game fowl and the smaller wa
ter-frequenting animals will perish
unless their natural breeding and
feeding habitations are maintained.
Muskrats, which are now protected
in Montana, at least until 1925, can
be bred so prolifically that so acres
of marsh will yield as many rs $500
muskrats, Warden Jakways states.
The gross value of the animals at
prevailing market prices would be
in excess of $4,000 yearly, he states.
Serves Many Purposes
The muskrat may be only a "rat"
while it is alive and swimming in
the water but death at the hands of a
trapper magnifies the dignity of the
little creature and it's flesh becomes
marsh rabbit" on the menu cards of
leading hotels; it's fur becomes
French" or electric seal" The
muskrat rears three filters yearly of
from three to eight kits, the usual
number being five.
Revenues from swamp land can be
made to come from several sources,
declares the Montana game official.
On the same piece of property, musk
rats, beaver, mink, marten, game fish
and mallard ducks can be farmed.
Beaver farming is gaining some
Roadway in the Treasure State. The
demand for the fur is in excess of the
supply at attractive prices. The beav-
er is generally believed to be the
most cunning of all fur bearing ami
mails that inhabit water without ex-
cepting the seal or seal lion.
This cunning which was traditional
ly acknowledged by the Indians make
the animal not only wary and hard to
trap but gives him protection through
his engineering skill.
The ability of the beaver to con-
struct dams in swift flowing streams
residents of the country would
find hard to dam, is known UNIVERSAL
ly. An illustration of the cunning
and ingenuity of the beaver as en-
in a defensive contest with a
Helena district homesteader was told
TO the state game officials recently.
Wisdom of the Beaver
The farmers land had been flooded
the construction of a huge beaver
lam in a strategic position SO that it
water both directions from
he stream. He was told by the game
warden to dynamite the dam and then
% stretch a wire across the stream
where the dam had been, with tin
,ans tied at close intervals along the
1t is the theory that the noise
by the cans swishing in the wa
and the jangling against eacr
will disturb the peace of mind
If the beaver so that they will desert
he vicinity.
Directions of the game warden
we're followed out by the farmer and
few days later he reported that the
beaver had gone upstream about a
nile, constructing a dam which did
lot damapa his nr0narfv short L