OTHER RESOURCES OF MICHIGAN 119 



to $25. Badger was quoted at $1.50 to $2. Beavers, 

 once the king of the trade, were valued at $15 to 

 $35 each, and the fisher and otter were given as 

 high a rating.^ The high price of furs of the late 

 post-war period had the effect of greatly stimulating 

 the destruction of fur-bearing^animals, until even 

 muskrats became exterminated in some localities 

 where they had once flourished." The destruction of 

 the forest cover through commercial operations and 

 fires likewise has diminished the game supply of the 

 State in the opinion of the Commissioner and of 

 sportsmen. 



In the open November season (now limited to 

 ten days) there continues to be a very large annual 

 destruction of deer in the northern counties, esti- 

 mated by the Commissioner in 1920 at 28,000 head. 

 Below the Straits of Mackinac the depletion in the 

 number of deer was so great by 1920 that the State 

 Game, Fish and Forest Fire Commissioner thought it 

 advisable to take measures for their augmentation. 

 The major portion of the kill of deer now pertains to 

 tlie Upper Peninsula, where, in spite of a shortened 

 season for hunting, 1920 witnessed the largest ship- 

 ment in the five years preceding, the number passing 

 the Straits being 5,079 head. In 1918 two herds 

 of nineteen individuals of elk were released from 

 refuges to covert in Alpena and Presque Isle coun- 

 ties of the southern peninsula. Two years later it 



'"The arand Rnpids Herald, Jan. 11. 1920. 4. 

 *"Rept. State Game, Fish and Forest Fire Commissioner," 

 1919-1920, 8, 9, 



