12 Department Circular 135, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



advent of firearms and steel traps proves that fur animals are not 

 fatally antagonistic to game. 



SUMMARY. 



Directly or indirectly, fur contributes to the support or comfort 

 of a large proportion of our population. We import as much fur as 

 we produce. In other words, we could sell at home twice as much 

 fur as we are now producing — not to speak of the foreign demand. 



The greater part of the fur grown in the United States comes from 

 privately owned land. Landowners can increase and improve the 

 fur taken on their property and make of it a regular source of income. 



A few species of fur-bearing animals have been domesticated, but 

 with the single exception of the silver fox, none are being farmed 

 extensively enough to influence the fur market. 



Laws protecting fur bearers are helpful ; at present, however, they 

 are not preventing the animals from decreasing in number. There 

 would be better fur and, in the long run, more of it if the open 

 season were not more than two months long. 



From what is known of game preserves and bird sanctuaries and 

 of the behavior of fur animals that have been confined or protected 

 in parks, the most logical step to be taken in attempting to maintain 

 a satisfactory fur supply is to set aside fur-animal preserves and 

 stock them with the best animals that can be found, the animals to 

 be fed, furnished with dens, and allowed full liberty. From such 

 preserves choice breeding stock could be obtained for private use or 

 for stocking other preserves. The territory surrounding such pre- 

 serves would soon become the choicest trapping regions in the 

 country. 



CONCLUSION. 



In order to make fur-bearing animals a constant source of profit 

 it is necessary that stringent protective laws for their conservation 

 be adopted and enforced. Such laws should be uniform in States 

 having similar climatic conditions. The open season should be short, 

 and limited within the period when skins are prime. The use of 

 poison, smoke, gas, or fumes in taking fur-bearing animals should 

 be prohibited. Trappers should be licensed at a nominal fee and 

 required to report the number and value of their catch at the end of 

 every trapping season — this information to be published annually 

 for the enlightenment of the public. 



It is suggested that State game commissions and State agricul- 

 tural experiment stations promote the raising of fur bearers, espe- 

 cially foxes, skunks, and muskrats, which are being propagated with 

 success ; that they investigate methods of feeding these animals and 

 combating their parasites; that they undertake the production of 

 improved strains by selective breeding; and that they study the 

 relations of fur animals in general to agriculture and their value as 

 an asset to the State. 



o 



