CHAPTER VIII 

 FARMING MUSKRAT FOR FUR 



In considering the fur-bearing world, it is impossible to group 

 the animal life according to the classifications of zoology. For 

 instance, fisher, mink, kolinsky, otter — are scientifically relatives ; 

 but as to furs, fisher ranks up with the silver and cross fox; and 

 otter ranks up with sea otter and beaver. 



Muskrat is a relative of the mouse and the rat. Yet you never 

 associate his pelt even with the mole. You rank him up with seal and 

 mink. Badger and lynx are the soft fluffy furs. Yet the animals 

 are aliens. Beaver and otter would seem to be brothers in aquatic 

 life. Yet in the fur world, you think of beaver and nutrias as 

 partners, the nutria a very junior partner, indeed. Squirrel, mole 

 and chinchilla have not the remotest relation to one another scien- 

 tifically. Yet their furs are a trio of the rare fragile peltries. I 

 have never seen 'any system by which the zoological scientific 

 classifications of the fur-bearing animals can be made to resemble 

 the classifications of the animals as fur bearers. 



Take the muskrat ! 



A few years ago, he wasn't exactly the outcast of the fur world. 

 He was considered the sport of boys more than men. Yet I venture 

 to say in a single year the muskrat to-day is bringing more money 

 into the fur trade than the Alaska seal ever did in ten years. Con- 

 sider the figures ! At the present time, from 8 to 10 million muskrats 

 are being yearly taken in Canada and the United States. When 

 I was up on Cumberland Lake a few years ago, 10 to i$£ was con- 

 sidered a fair price for muskrats and 25^ high. Cumberland Lake 



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