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TEXTBOOK OP ZOOLOGY 



Along with the beaver, certain other fur animals, among them the 

 mink, raccoon, marten, fisher, otter, wolverine, skunk, opossum, lynx, 

 muskrat, badger, and fox, have for long been sought for their furs. 

 Some, as the otter and fisher, were formerly present in far greater 

 numbers than they are now. All, save possibly the opossum, 

 muskrat, and fox in certain areas, are much reduced. From a total 

 of $500,000,000 in 1929, the retail turnover in the fur business of the 

 United States declined to $200,000,000 in 1935, owing partly to cur- 

 tailment of business and deflation of values and partly to actual re- 

 duction in the numbers of wild fur animals. In Texas, where a fur- 



Fig-. 412. — Raccoon, Procyon lotor, a valuable fur-bearing animal. 



tagging law permitted an accurate check to be made, there was an 

 actual decline in the number of furs taken from 1,407,884 in 1932-1933 

 to 912,276 in 1934-1935. This means a 35 per cent decrease— 500,000 

 pelts, worth $325,000 — in three years. This same decline has been 

 noticed over the entire country. 



Ducks, geese, and swans have been favorite objects of sport from 

 the earliest days of our Republic, and formerly were present in such 

 numbers that little concern was felt, although spring shooting was the 

 rule in many localities and the birds were freely sold in the markets. 

 During the past few years, however, difficulties in securing good 

 hunting have been so obvious that extraordinary efforts have had 

 to be exerted to save these popular game birds. During 1938 and 

 since, the ruddy, wood duck, canvasback, redhead, and bufflehead are 



