60 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



greatest pelt known to the fur world — that is, in the years 

 gone by — was the beaver, and the beaver had a distribu- 

 tion from the hot lands of Mexico to the Actic fastnesses 

 of Hudson Bay. The beaver, now practically gone, has 

 been replaced by the heretofore inconspicuous muskrat 

 as the pillar of the fur trade and nowhere is the muskrat 

 to be found in more prolific numbers than in the State of 

 Louisiana, and in this same state approximately 20,000 

 trappers go into the vast expanses of the coastal marsh- 

 lands, the swamps and other woodlands for fur pelts every 

 winter. 



What Is Fur? 



Fur is the name applied especially to the covering on the 

 skins of certain animals. The fur lies alongside another 

 and usually longer covering variously called the "guard- 

 hair," "overhair" and "kinghair." The fur of an animal 

 differs from its hair in that it is soft, silky, dense, downy, 

 and under the microscope will be noted to be barbed length- 

 wise. The guardhair.is straight, smooth and comparatively 

 stiff. 



The fur and the guardhairs on an animal have separate 

 uses. The guardhair on the living animal keeps the fur 

 filaments apart and has its function in preventing the fur 

 from a tendency to mat or felt, and, in addition, the guard- 

 hairs protect the fur from injury, thereby giving the ani- 

 mals needed immunity from cold. 



In many cases the guardhairs are not utilized by the 

 furrier when making up certain garments, while in other 

 pelts the guardhairs constitute the beauty and value of 

 the pelt. 



The fur market and fur wearers are dependent on cer- 

 tain members of the mammalian order for its source of nat- 

 ural supply. Four orders are conspicuous sources of this 

 natural supply, being the Carnivora, Rodentia, Ungulata, 

 and Marsupilia. 



The two most important orders are the Carnivora, or 

 flesh-eating mammals, which in Louisiana are represented 

 by the wolf, gray fox, lynx or wild cat, black bear, raccoon, 

 mink, skunk, weasel and otter ; and the Rodentia, or gnaw- 



