Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 18, Number 38, DeMotte, Jasper County, 20 August 1948 — INDIANA'S CATCH OF FUR DECLINED GREATLY IN ’47 [ARTICLE]

INDIANA'S CATCH OF FUR DECLINED GREATLY IN ’47

Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 18. The 1947 catch of fur in this state was the lowest in the last seven years, according to figures compiled by the Indiana Department of Conservation. The total of fur-bearing animals trapped and sold in Indiana last year was placed at 312,065 —a great drop from 1946 when 1,068,741 pelts were bagged by Hoosier trappers for the high mark during the seven-year period. These figures were obtained from reports sent to the department’s Fish and Game division by the 347 licensed fur-buyers in Indiana. State law requires licensed fur-buyers to report annually on the number of pelts they purchased. 1 The l'J47 Indiana fur cat eh was itemized, as follows: badgers 7; red and gray foxes 7.024; mink 15,416; muskrat 207.725; oppossum 36,498; raccoon 40.967; skunk 4,114; weasel 314. The heavy decrease in last year's catch applied to all furbearing animals, Donald R. Hughes, state Fish and Game director, said Indiana’s sharp decline in , furs last year ■was dui to a combination of factors. He added, however, that Conservation officials were unable t clearly analyze the reasons because the state has no one making a study of Indiana’s fur-bear-ing animals. Of the years on which records are available, 1941 -was the previous j uiest trapping year in Indiana. The fur catch that year was 330,95 b.