The Fur Animals of Louisiana 51 



not stop these practices themselves, the various States, 

 through legislative enactment, can. By penalizing those 

 who take unprime pelts and the pelts of infant fur animals, 

 making it illegal not alone to take such skins but to have 

 them in possession, the industry can be economically regu- 

 lated, but such a stringent action should not be made neces- 

 sary. 



It is recognized that Louisiana possesses some very ad- 

 vanced laws for the protection of fur animals and proof of 

 this seems to be indicated in the consideration and adoption 

 of like laws by sister states. For years the State permitted 

 the trapping of such non-game mammals as constitute our 

 list of fur animals — muskrats, opossums, raccoons, mink, 

 skunks, otter, foxes, wolves, weasels — without regulation, 

 but gradually laws were passed by the Legislature that 

 brought a check to those who would trap at any period of 

 the year. 



The entire fur situation, especially conditions pertaining 

 to the muskrat, has received the closest and most earnest 

 attention of the Department of Conservation. From surveys 

 made over a period of years it appeared that when the 

 season opened too early in the fall the furs taken were not 

 prime, and when the season extended too far into the new 

 year the furs reaching the market were "springy," and too 

 many breeding and nursing females were taken. The duty 

 of the Department was plain. It was imperative to shorten 

 the season, with like advantage to the reproduction of the 

 animals and those connected with the fur trapping and sell- 

 ing industry. We had conclusive evidence that the furs 

 taken during the middle of the winter, the latter part of 

 December and during the month of January, were superior 

 as to primeness and brought the best prices. 



The first law giving the fur animals of Louisiana a close 

 season, permitted trapping from November 1 to February 1 

 (Section 6, Act 204 of 1912) and the animals so protected 

 were the mink, otter, muskrat and raccoon ; under this law, 

 wildcats, skunks and opossums could be taken at any time. 



When the first law protecting the fur animals of the 

 State was passed the legislation said fur animals could 



