The Fur Animals of Louisiana 111 



more valuable than those inhabiting the coastal marshes, 

 as the "woods mink" has a darker coat and the fur is finer. 

 The best No. 1 large pelts brought $9.00 and more during 

 the 1927-1928 season. 



A mink known in the fur trade as the "French Settle- 

 ment Mink," found in that section of the state covered by 

 the parishes of Ascension, St. James, Livingston, Tangi- 

 pahoa and St. John the Baptist, and in the general vicinity 

 of Lake Maurepas, brings the highest price in the raw pelt 

 market. The reason for this is not alone because of its rich 

 dark-brown pelage, but because these animals grade evenly, 

 and, when using French Settlement mink, furriers do not 

 have to spend time in matching tanned skins when making 

 up a garment composed wholly of mink fur. The French 

 Settlement mink gained its trade name because so many 

 of these skins were shipped by boat from the small com- 

 munity of this name on the Amite River in Livingston 

 parish. 



Louisiana exceeds all the other states of the Union in 

 the production of mink pelts, and in Canada is only ex- 

 ceeded by the province of Ontario. In the 1924-1925 season, 

 when that northern fur section produced 68,138 skins, the 

 Louisiana output was 67,441 pelts. 



One of the principal markets for Louisiana mink is the 

 city of Winnipeg. While the province of Manitoba produced 

 approximately 13,000 pelts in the season of 1924-1925, still 

 the manufacturing furriers of that Canadian city are active 

 purchasers of mink from our sub-tropical section of the 

 continent, particularly the French Settlement mink, which 

 appears very much like carrying coal to Newcastle ! 



The leading mink-producing parishes are, their impor- 

 tance in numbers taken being in the order named: Terre- 

 bonne, St. Mary, Lafourche, Cameron, Vermilion, Assump- 

 tion, Plaquemines, Calcasieu, Jefferson, Livingston, Tangi- 

 pahoa, Natchitoches, De Soto, Iberville, Rapides, Bossier, 

 Caddo, Richland, and there is not a parish in the state 

 where this fur animal is not taken. 



The success mink trappers have had in past years, due 

 to the large number of minks they have taken, has caused 

 some to declare that the supply is inexhaustible, but with 

 increasing demand for fur and the spectacular rise in prices; 



