380 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



"The reason the Maryland and Virginia so-called 'black' 

 muskrat pelts look black is, in our estimation, because the 

 tips of the underfur underneath the dark guard hairs, are 

 almost as dark as the guard tips. The pelt, consequently, 

 looks dark no matter whether the guard hairs are standing 

 upright or lying flat." 



This proves to Mr. LaDue that there is a color inheri- 

 tance that goes with the dark-tipped underfur — the why 

 and wherefore of which would be interesting to solve — and 

 he believes that pen breeders of muskrats will be those 

 who will solve the matter from a genetic standpoint. 



A collection of muskrat pelts from the different sections 

 of the Louisiana coastal marshes, from the Pearl river to 

 the Sabine, shows almost as much difference in the color 

 of guard hairs, and underfur color as in the muskrats the 

 Minnesota editor examined from Labrador, Nevada and 

 Wisconsin, and Maryland and Virginia. 



In Louisiana there is a so-called "black" muskrat. It 

 is the same animal the local fur trade sell the eastern manu- 

 facturers as a "Texas 'rat," and occurs principally in 

 Cameron parish. It has size, plus color, that differs from 

 other muskrats in Louisiana, although it feeds on the same 

 kinds of food. 



The value of a muskrat coat, therefore, depends on the 

 darkness of the skins, the number of skins used, the sec- 

 tions from which they come and the amount of labor that 

 has been put into the making of the garment. When only 

 the dark centers of the skin are used, more skins are nat- 

 urally required to make the coat than when the skins are 

 trimmed close to the head and down into the belly fur. 



Hudson "Seal" is the favorite and most popular camou- 

 flage of the fur trade. While it is true that in this day of 

 "truth in furs," as is now practiced by the reputable fur- 

 riers of this country, that woman is beginning to know 

 more about the zoology of the pelt she is wearing, and now 

 a skunk is a skunk instead of a "Fitch;" and a rabbit is 

 becoming a rabbit in spite of attempts to make it a "Cony," 

 a "Chinchellette," an "Electric Mole," a "Sealette" or a 

 score of other misleading names. 



