Raccoon 1029 



The fur is the creature's chief contribution to human fur 

 comfort. Haifa million skins are shipped to London in good 

 years to be manufactured into overcoats, sleigh-robes, and 

 motor-car wraps. For this it is particularly well adapted, 

 being a deep warm fur of the coarser kind on a strong and 

 durable leather. The abundance of the animal keeps the 

 price low, so it has an established popularity. 



During the eighty-five years, 1821 to 1905 inclusive, the 

 Hudson's Bay Company collected 167,027 skins of this species, 

 an average of 1,847 ^^^ each year. The lowest was o in 1829; 

 the highest, 24,783, in 1866. The average for the ten years, 

 1895 to 1905, was 3,814. 



Poland's lists show that during the seventy-one years, 

 1821 to 1891 inclusive, 27,138,479 skins were taken by the other 

 American companies, an average of 382,091 each year. So 

 that the average annual catch of Raccoon for fur is about 

 384,000. The record high year was 1883, when 711,071 were 

 received by the traders. 



At the London annual fur sales, held at Lampson's, 

 March, 1906, the highest price paid was 26 shillings ($6.24) 

 each for 34 unusually large, dark, fine skins; but this was 

 exceptional. The nearest to this was 12 shillings ($2.88) each 

 for 236 No. I large skins. More usual prices were 6 shillings 

 (^i .44) and 7 shillings ($1 .68), and many lots of inferior quality 

 were sold at eight pence (16 cents) and i shilling (24 cents) 

 a skin. 



