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102 RODENTS OF IOWA 



near that place. Muskrat houses are also much in evidence in the 

 vicinity of Spirit Lake and Estherville. Numerous other ponds 

 and marshes over the state furnish their quota, but trappers and 

 collectors everywhere state that the number of these animals has 

 decreased markedly in the past four or five years. 



Economic Importance. In an economic way the use of musk- 

 rat fur is of greatest importance. As compared with other furs of 

 small size muskrats furs are dense, soft, and at the same time possess 

 excellent wear-resisting qualities. The furriers have worked out 

 methods of imitating many of the more costly furs with that of the 

 muskrat, and thus a constant demand for the latter is created. C. 

 Freedman, furrier at the Edes Robe Tanning Company of Dubuque, 

 informs the writer that of the smaller mammal skins that come to the 

 tannery muskrat skins head the list so far as numbers are concerned. 

 J. A. Spurrell of Wall Lake writes that, ' ' Muskrats were the most 

 important, [fur-bearing 'animals] because the most abundant. The 

 skins were worth from eight to ten cents each in 1857 and from 12 

 to 15 cents each in 1870, when Shelt Tiberghien and two partners 

 trapped 6250 muskrats from October, 1870, to May, 1871. The 

 muskrats were called the 'savior of the people', and taxes were paid 

 from the proceeds of trapping . . . ." 



Muskrat fur first came into demand through its use in the mak- 

 ing of imitation beaver hats. Later, silk and wool having replaced 

 the beaver, muskrat skins came to be used as an imitation of seal- 

 skin; and if properly made up they are, indeed, difficult to tell 

 from the real article, although the wearing qualities are much in- 

 ferior. 



In regard to the trade in muskrat furs Lantz says : ' ' The growth 

 of the demand for muskrat furs is shown by the records of London 

 importations and sales. From 1763 to 1800 (thirty-eight years) 

 the total number of skins imported and sold in that market was 

 2,831,453, an average of less than 75,000 yearly. During the fifty 

 years from 1801 to 1850 the total was 20,571,428, or an average of 

 411,000 yearly. From 1851 to 1890, inclusive, the importations 

 were 99 ; 893,591, a yearly average of 2,500,000. The average Lon- 

 don sales in recent years have been ever 4,000,000 per annum, and 

 the entire output of skins for 1900 was 5,285,000. A large part of 

 the total collection is sold through London, but in the last few years 

 an increasing number are dressed and manufactured in America. 



Notwithstanding that during the past century and a half nearly 

 a quarter billion of muskrats have been trapped, the supply has not 



