410 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



"Louisiana alone produces from four to six million 

 muskrat pelts a year and under her wise administration 

 of muskrat conservation laws there may reasonably be 

 expected a ten-million skin collection in the course of time. 

 From fourteen to seventeen million muskrats are taken each 

 year in t*he United States. 



"While trapping has been carried on throughout the 

 entire Basin for several generations, and in some parts 

 two hundred years, the smaller fur bearers have been 

 able to hold their own by reason of first, their fecundity, 

 and second, the extermination of their larger natural ene- 

 mies. For example, the muskrats in Louisiana have multi- 

 plied as the alligators have been reduced in numbers. 



"Another reason for the great collection of American 

 furs each year is the fact that there are more trappers 

 here than eleswhere. The population is greater per square 

 mile here than in Canada or Siberia. Furthermore, our 

 trappers are better equipped for their work than the inhabi- 

 tants of the far north and other less advanced sections." 



Fur Prices From 1915 to 1928 



To give the reader a comprehensive idea of the gradual 

 rise of the prices the Louisiana trappers received for their 

 fur takes during the past dozen years the following table 

 has been compiled : 



1915 1917 1918 1923 1925 1926 1928 1929 



It should be borne in mind that these prices are the 

 average the trappers received and not the highest given 

 them by fur buyers for choice skins. For instance, during 

 the past three years the price of Louisiana top 'rats soared 

 to $1.85, $2.55, and even to $3.00 when the pelts reached the 

 New York markets — but the trappers did not get these 



