From:
EXCHANGE
IOWA
Geological Survey
Bulletin No. 5
THE RODENTS OF IOWA
BY DAYTON STONER
GEORGE F. KAY, PH. D., STATE GEOLOGIST
JAMES H. LEES, PH. D^ ASSISTANT STATE GEOLOGIST
DES MOJNES:
PUBLISHED FOR IOWA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
1918
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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.
