338 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



some known 'rat shortages from known causes, and indi- 

 cate the length of recovery. 



On Marsh Island, now a state wild life refuge, the 

 trapping of muskrats has been an industry for many, many 

 years, and the quality of the muskrat from this territory 

 is so well known that a "Marsh Island 'rat" commands a 

 better price in the fur trade both in Louisiana and in 

 New York. 



One sector of this island, consisting of 12,900 acres, 

 was trapped by the Lovell Brothers and their first oper- 

 ation came during the winter of 1915-16. In August of 

 1915 the entire western Louisiana coast was swept by a 

 gulf hurricane which did considerable damage to the ;ity 

 of Galveston and a wave of salt water was swept over 

 Marsh Island, killing muskrats and other fur animals by 

 the thousands. According to J. W. Lovell, there were very 

 few muskrats in the sector apportioned him and his 

 brothers the winter immediately after the hurricane swept 

 the place, and their operations consisted mainly in trap- 

 ping mink and raccoon, with 12 to 15 trappers working 

 over the marshes and ridges. 



When they resumed operations during the season of 

 1916-17 the Lovell Brothers noticed an increase in the 

 muskrat population, in the low spots of their territory; 

 however, they refrained from trapping them. The fol- 

 lowing winter of 1917-18 did not show as great an increase 

 of muskrats as they had hoped for, this because of a sum- 

 mer drought in 1917, but they did trap lightly and caught 

 what they considered a very good take, considering the 

 drought and hurricane of two years before. 



During the winter of 1918-19 they secured 507 musk- 

 rats along Oyster Bayou, but their main operations were 

 for mink and 'coon, and they decided to allow muskrats 

 to increase without molestation on other sections of their 

 territory. The following year, 1919-20, they secured ap- 

 proximately 4,000 muskrats; in the 1920-21 season the 

 take jumped to nearly 7,000 muskrats; the 1921-22 season 

 netted them about 12,000 'rats; in excess of 18,000 'rats 

 were taken during 1922-23 ; and their traps delivered 



