306 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



There is a lesson to be learned from the recital of Mary- 

 land muskrat operations, and that is that money is being 

 made in the industry there and under conditions that are 

 not as favorable to ranching, farming, and breeding as are 

 to be found in Louisiana. 



Fur Production on Refuges 



Concrete examples of what certain areas of marshland 

 in Louisiana produce will be found in the following figures, 

 which relate to the activities of trappers on the major wild 

 life refuges in our state, viz., Marsh Island, the Rockefeller 

 Foundation Refuge and the Paul J. Rainey Refuge, as well 

 as the Pass a la Loutre Public Shooting Grounds, etc. It 

 might be first explained that the wild life sanctuaries were 

 set aside for the exclusive use of the migratory wild water- 

 fowl of the continent and, as the muskrats devour the root- 

 stalks of the very grasses that provide food for the ducks 

 and geese, it is necessary to keep the animals thinned down 

 or else they would "eat out" the food of the game birds 

 that seek haven on the refuges every winter. 



The state, through the department of conservation, 

 places trappers on the state-owned sanctuaries to trap off 

 not only the muskrats but the raccoons, minks and otters 

 as well. On the Rainey Refuge, the National Association 

 of Audubon Societies has leased out the trapping rights to 

 trapping concerns at so much an acre, and has trapped the 

 area with its own force. 



On the Marsh Island Sanctuary there are exactly 71,550 

 acres of land that are trapped, and tables showing the 

 number of animals taken by the trappers, and the average 

 prices secured by them for the pelts sold, are listed below : 



Marsh Island, 1923-24 



Muskrats 336,535 $.50 $168,267.00 



Raccoons 920 3.00 2,760.00 



Minks 1,056 5.00 5,280.00 



$176,307.00 



Marsh Island, 1924-25 



Muskrats 184,546 $ .75 $138,409.50 



Raccoons 1,121 3.00 3,363.00 



Minks 1,523 5.00 7,615.00 



$149,387.50 



