^^UTJ I T E D ^ STAT E S 

 ^DEPARTMENT 

 OF AGRICULTURE 



OFBIC] 



7ITH UNCL2 SAli' S MTUHAIISTS. 



Speaking; Time ; 10 minutes 



Friday, December 18, 1931. 



HOT FOR PUBLICATION 



AlTtTQUITCI^IJENT ; Every two weeks at this time our 7ilds Man tells us about his 

 visits T,'ith Uncle San' s Naturalists. Today he is scheduled to tell us what 

 Hr, Frank 0. Ashbrook, in charge of the Division of Fur Resoi^rces of the 



United States Biolos'ical Survey, has to say about fur farming. Here is 



the Wilds Uan now. 



]|( ak iti 4> i|< * 



Out-of-the-way places in nearly all parts of the globe yield fur 

 animals to the fur trade. Naturally, the colder countries produce the 

 finest furs. Alaska and the Hudson Bay region of Canada are fa.Tious for 

 furs, but the wilds of every one of our northern States yield fur anir.ials. 



But, strange as it niay seem, one of the greatest fur-producing 

 regions of the rrorld is our own Mississippi River Valley. And the 

 American farm boy is even now probably the world's greatest trapper. Ever 

 since the days of the Indians and since the first of those adventurous 

 French wood rangers started fur trading in the middle of what is now our 

 country, trapping and hunting of fur animals have been going on. 



The numbers of some of the finer fur animals have decreased, includ- 

 ing foxes, end martens, and minks, and fishers, ajid beavers. There are 

 still, however, considerable numbers of slamks, and opossums, ojid raccoons, 

 and muskrats. The muskrat, living in swainps and raising big fa^nilies and 

 raising them often, is one of the world's greatest fur producers. 



However, the pioneer who wore a coonskin cap has been succeeded by 

 his collegiate great grandson who wears a coonskin coat, and a flock of 

 granddaughters and great granddaughters who are appareled in the priiie 

 pelts from many other fur bearers. As I/ir. Frajil: G-. Ashbrook, chief of the 

 Division of Fur Resources of the United States Biological Survey, puts it: 

 "Fur wearers increase faster than fur bearers." 



The fur bearers not only are being trapped out to supiol;/ the trade, 

 end crowded out by the encroachiaent of cities and farms on the wilds, but 

 in lany cases are being hunted down as so-called "vermin" in a mista2:en 

 2eal for the protection of other animals and game birds. 



Then, too, drought conditions of the past two years have been hard 

 on T.iany of our wild fur animals, especially the swamp living species. 

 Our fur resources are dwindling more and more. 



