The Bluffton News

Ohio Trappers Rank Third In Country In Take Of 'Coon Pelts; 5th In Muskrat
The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service has just published a report giving the number and species of wild fur animals, by States, taken in the season 1954-55. This report is a co-operative undertaking with the State game and conservation commissions. During recent years the prevailing low prices for raw furs, not the scarcity of animals, have been largely responsible for the decline in the take. According to the report, beaver is perhaps the outstanding exception, because the population has been steadily increasing and the prices received for the fur have been sufficiently high to encourage trapping. By and large, however, the take of the staple furs-muskrat, skunk, raccoon, opossum, fox, and weasel-has been decreasing steadily.
In spite of the drop of furs taken in the United States during the past few years, Ohio ranks 5th in the state of muskrats and 3rd in the number of raccoon. The top five states during the 1954-55 season, together with the number of muskrat pelts, shows: Louisiana, 1,383,114; Pennsylvania, 525,521; Wisconsin, 388,218; Michigan, 310,648; Ohio, 215,239. Michigan leads in the take of raccoon with 105,336, followed by Missouri with 104,828 and Ohio with 103,756.