Muskrat

Bisam coat (after 1990)

The so-called muskrat is originally native only in North America to Mexico, the coat is a muskrat in the trade. Today it is spread over the whole of Eurasia including Japan, partly also in South America ( Tierra del Fuego , Chile). The muskrat , as far as it is recycled, is processed into fur clothing of all kinds. Other names were bisambiber, civet rat, civet beaver or musk rat. In America the muskrat is also incorrectly called rat, musk-rat, in English-speaking Europe and, because it sounds better than muskrat "rat", generally preferred in the fur trade, as musquash (Indian).

hide

Cloth coat with sheared, natural-colored muskrat (2020)

Muskrat have a fur length of up to 30 to 36 cm, the flattened, hairless, 20 to 25 cm long tail is removed before tanning, it often serves the muskrat catcher as evidence of receiving a state catch premium ( tail premium ).

The slightly curved, flattened awns are typical of swimming fur animals. The hairline is directed from the front to the back, there are vertebrae only on the chest and the inside of the thighs. The wool hairs are thicker on the dewlap and lie closer than on the back.

The winter fur is silky soft and dense to very dense. As with all rodents living in water ( beavers , nutria ), the summer coat differs only slightly from the winter coat. On the whole it is a bit lighter and more matt and has fewer awns . The color is dark brown to black brown (chestnut brown), getting lighter from the back to the belly. The grunt is much darker. The underside is dirty gray, brown-gray to almost white with a slightly reddish, rust-brown or brown-reddish tone. But the animals adapt in their coloration - darker, sandy, light - strongly to their surroundings (river bed, mud), so that one encounters gray-brown and reddish-yellowish-light-brown, also black-brown to almost black ( Blackbisam ). Color mutations also occur in the wild, especially whites and piebalds. The undercoat is silky, very fine, very soft, dense to very dense, bluish, light gray to dark gray (slate gray) or brownish, on the underside it is particularly dense.

The whiskers are only on the face and wrists. The up to 43 mm long guide hairs are sparsely distributed over the fur; the awns are numerous. The dorsal awns are very dense, about 25 mm long and 0.09 to 0.14 mm wide; they are more isolated on the stomach and are much shorter here. The tightly standing, strongly wavy wool hair is about 20 mm long. The diameter of the wool hair is 10 μm. For 1 cm ^{2 there} are 14,000 hairs on the back and 16,000 hairs on the stomach; one coat has about 6 to 8 million hairs.

The leather side of animals that are changing their hair is green-brown to rust-brown, as well as of adult animals during the summer months (moulting skin pattern). The skins of muskrat caught in winter to early spring have gray to white leather.

The durability coefficient according to general experience with shaved or grannigem coat is 50 to 60 percent. Another list put the durability at 51 to 57 percent and places it at the 18th position of an incomplete durability scale , which traditionally begins with the fur of the sea ​​otter believed to be the most durable , and here ends with the hare fur at the 41st position. An American study classified muskrat based on microscopic hair examinations at 45 percent.

Divided into the fineness classes silky, fine, medium-fine, coarser and hard, muskrat hair was classified as medium-fine.

Hunting, catching and breeding

After the population in their North American homeland had declined considerably due to sometimes oversized reenactment, muskrats began to be bred or otherwise released. In an area where once there were large numbers of animals, 460 kilometers north of Winnipeg on an island in the swampy delta of Saskatchewan , the Canadian Tomb Lamb founded the world's largest muskrat farm very quickly in 1932. Within three years he managed to increase the natural remaining stock of almost 400 animals so that he was able to harvest 24,000 furs in 1935.

Muskrats.
Buy your breeding animals from the muskrat's homeland. Large dark fertile breeding animals, raised at 7,864 feet above the sea. America's best animals. Price $ 10 per pair. Gender guaranteed. Sky-High Fur Farms, Inc., La Jara, Colorado, USA Advertisement in "Der Deutsche Furztierzchter" (1930)

Originally only distributed in North America, the muskrat has spread unstoppably across Europe since the first release of Canadian animals in Bohemia in 1905 by Prince Colloredo-Mansfeld.

It was said at the time that these fur suppliers "turn worthless swamps into golden springs". Because of the damage caused by the burrowing work, however, the breeding of the muskrat is now prohibited in most European countries. Trained muskrat hunters are used to combat them, but the populations do not seem to decrease because the animals give birth to two to four litters with three to seven young each year. In Germany the muskrat is fought all year round. In 2009 the muskrat catcher from Delbrück near Paderborn, used by the community, received € 5.50 for each animal killed.

However, some other countries had also started to release muskrats in remote moors and swamps to obtain fur, where they have also increased tremendously. In 1929 the then Soviet Union imported 900 muskrats from Canada, which were initially kept in the Pushkino zoo farm near Moscow and then u. a. in the area of Krasnoyarsk , Arkhangelsk and Tyumensk (Western Siberia). The animals reproduced so much that as early as 1935 3,000 pelts were offered on a trial basis. In 1940 there were already 542,000 and in 1950 just under 3 million. In Finland, too, 2,400 North American animals were released in 1920; with a fur attack of around 250,000 around 1987, the muskrat had become of great economic importance for both countries. Many of the animals released in the Soviet Union have emigrated to China, Mongolia and Korea. In the meantime, depending on requirements, considerable quantities are likely to come onto the market from there.

• European muskrats (2009)
• 

  Rawhides, hair inside

• 

  trimmed, hair outside

By 1988, the number of raw hides in the United States was around 4.5 million northern muskrat and 3,500 southern muskrat, and the trend is falling. For Canada, 1.5 million were named. The attack from Western European countries was 1.5 to 2 million. The highest offer on the world market came from the Soviet Union in 1956 with 6.1 million skins, in 1970 it was 1.7 million. The decline was due to increased domestic demand, the draining of huge swamps, strong industrialization and the like. a., explained. In later years there was no auction offer.

The fur of the Florida water rat , known in English as "round tailed muskrat", has never been used for commercial fur purposes, although the animal does damage to Florida's sugar cane plantations and has been included in a control program for disturbing animals. The fur is very similar to the brown or dark brown muskrat, but the hair is considerably shorter and the undercoat is considerably darker.

trade

In comparison, muskrats have not been processed for a long time, but in British Columbia and Oregon, for example, the skins were very popular with the inhabitants for making clothes. Throughout the 19th century, only a few thousand pieces came onto the European market each year. In 1750 the Hudson Bay's imported 550 pieces, in 1800 there were already 15,000 from Canada and 12,000 came from the USA. When the fashion with beaver felt hats reached its peak around 1830, there was also more demand for muskrat skins, the Hudson Bay's Company imported 80,000 skins via London that year, the USA supplied 15,000. Around 1910, HBC produced 5 to 600,000 units a year, and the USA 5 to 6 million. Around 1910, around 1 million pelts were imported through the Leipzig fur center alone. In the meantime, the demand was so great that people started thinking about preserving the stocks and began to introduce closed seasons in the individual states.

In 1974 the import into the Federal Republic of Germany amounted to over 2.4 million muskrats.

• Europe

The muskrat accruing here was initially mostly traded as "Bohemian" or Russian muskrat. The Finnish muskrat also made an exception, as they are in a class of their own and are of very good quality. The European muskrats are by no means inferior to some American origins, they are often a bit larger, but they do not have that thick hair, often they have a pink sheen. The Russian muskrat should not be confused with the Russian desman , whose fur was sold as a silver bisam . Desman skins were occasionally found in some muskrat retail ranges in the past.

The largest raw fur market in Europe was Garlick Hill in London. The Leipzig tobacco trade covered its main needs at the auctions there.

Trapper in Louisianna, USA delivers muskrat (1941)

Sorting raw hides during a muskrat auction in front of the community house in St. Bernard Parish , Louisiana , USA. Fur buyers and Spanish trappers watch (1941).

London Auctions
Delivery to the Hudson's Bay Company

1844:	545.011		1865:	258.791
1848:	254.733		1861:	205,591
1851:	194.502		1863:	356.904
1853:	493,804		1864:	420.156 (spring only)

In terms of size, quality and color, there are no major differences within the European varieties. They are slightly larger and stronger than the American ones, but they are less dense and have a stronger leather. The quality corresponds roughly to the American Centrals (Ohio, Pennsylvania), the Finnish roughly like the Yorkfort area (Upper Canada).

The raw fur range is different

Big and small

Prima, secondary, tertia and damaged.

Damaged goods are traded at a 10 to 50 percent discount, depending on the degree of damage.
Red-tinged skins are called "rusty".

• North America (detailed information on the individual origins can be found below in the Facts and Figures chapter )

The most important trading places for direct purchase in the North American production areas were New York and St. Louis for northern muskrat and New Orleans for southern muskrat.

In the raw assortment, a distinction is made, in addition to origin, according to the season, size and type.

• Seasonal attack:

a. Fallrats (autumn rats ): green leather, hair development lagging far behind, "the hair is still in the leather".
b. winter

(early winter) The back, sides and dewlap are still very green on the leather side.

(late winter) Leather sides are yellow to red-yellow, only the back is green. After tanning, the winter fur can be recognized by a "saddle", which means that the sides, in contrast to the back, are already fully developed in the hair.

c. Spring (spring bisam, spring rats, spring rats) have fully developed, even hair of the best quality. The leather is reddish-yellow or yellow everywhere, but bald spots often occur, caused by bites by the males in the females during the mating season. Sometimes this devalues ​​a raw batch by 20 to 30 percent. In addition, a distinction is sometimes made between early spring and late spring (early and late spring).

While most animals have their highest coat quality in winter, muskrat is best developed in spring. Bachrach attributes this to the snowmelt, which at this time cools rivers and lakes.

• Sizes:

The sizes are exexlarge (tops), exlarge, medium and small; exexlarge skins are more than 38 cm long in the north and over 30 cm in the south.

• Sorts:

 I well covered by the upper hair (spring quality)

II poorly covered, few awns, musky (winter quality)

Smalls and kitts are predominantly used in autumn, medium in winter and tops in spring.

Exexlarge = small, exlarge = large, medium = medium-sized, small = small

Kitts = extra small, poor kitts = bad extra small, slightly damaged = slightly damaged, badly damaged = heavily damaged, mice = little mouse (very small)

Kidney marks in muskrats

The Hudson's Bay and Annings Ltd. , London classified by varieties:

I, I & II, II, III, V, damaged, burnt and sizes:

exlarge, pt. exlarge, large, medium, small, pieces, divided according to the same origins as above.

The skins are pulled off round and delivered with the hair inside.

A very common defect, especially in southern muskrat in the USA, is so-called "kidney points", better known as damage to the flank glands. This is an oval-shaped awn loss on the side of the groan (the dark middle of the fur), sometimes the loss of entire parts of the fur including the undercoat. The defect can affect up to 80 percent of the skins. According to findings published in 1977 that seem certain, it is a question of damage to the lateral glands in animals that are still alive. The damage cannot be seen on the raw fur, it only shows up in the course of the fur trim .

The sooner the Bisampelz adhering by the secretion musky odor disappears completely today in the coat finishing.

Refinement, processing

Men's coat with muskrat lining and Persian trim (USA, 1906)

Until 1840, muskrats were used exclusively for fine felt hats; At the height of this fashion one fetched 60 to 100 marks for a kilo of muskrat. At the beginning of 1900, the furriers received 3 to 4 marks for the kilo of muskrat waste from the felt manufacturers.

When, in 1842, the seal jacket began to be worn not only as a fur lining or as trimmings and trimmings, there was soon a lack of inexpensive, flat fur material. Sir William Poland was one of the first to have the muskrat, which was produced in large numbers, dressed (tanned). When methods were developed around 1900 that made it possible to remove guard hairs, consumption began to rise. Since then, muskrat has been one of the most sought-after furs, mainly because of its durability and the relatively low price. The material gets an additional upswing, as in the years, beginning around 1985, when velvet-like fur finishes come into fashion. Already once, until shortly after the Second World War, Sealbisam (electric muskrat), dyed black, plucked velvety on the ejarré machine and additionally sheared, was a popular substitute for the real sealskin , the ragged fur of the fur seal . Depending on the color, it was not plucked as sable musk , skunks , etc. in stores , later it was mainly colored brown as mink musk .

The dressing (tanning) of the muskrat is an extremely lengthy and complicated procedure. The prior assessment of the raw material and the recognition of the possible damage, which can occur in very different forms, requires a particularly high level of expertise and experience. Acid damage occurred again and again in the period after the Second World War and into the 1960s, the leather already decomposed when the fur was moistened during manufacture or after long storage. For dressing and finishing in general, see the main articles  → Fur dressing and →  Pelzveredlung .

Processing a muskrat lining (1895)

The muskrat is usually processed separately according to dewlap and back, which the tobacco wholesalers offer , already made into muskrat - and "feed" muskrat back together. Around 1922, at least in the USA, the pelts were often even divided into three parts, the back for natural bisam coats, the sides were traded as "gold bisam" and the bellies as "silver bisam".

The pieces that fall off during processing are also made into muskrat cheeks, muskrat throats, muskrat pump and muskrat head. Until after the Second World War, the linings were often sewn together in addition to (muskrat) sacks .

As for the processing of most small skins, separate industries have been established for this. In Germany, these companies were located around the international fur trade center, the Leipziger Brühl , until after the Second World War. In the meantime, the production of these semi-finished goods has shifted to countries with lower wages.

The so-called “ skipping ” of muskrats too narrow stripes in the length of a coat or jacket, which was still common in the 1980s, is practically no longer practiced today. Reasons could be the increased production costs, the turn to sporty, less elegant clothing ( casual look ) and the now cheaper range of apparently more popular, exuberantly crafted mink clothing. To omit muskrat for a coat, two skins are cut together with cross seams to form a larger skin ("incision"); for a jacket, this work is unnecessary, here a large muskrat is usually sufficient. The fur is then cut into V- or A-shaped strips about 5 mm wide and sewn together in such a way that a, now narrower, strip of the desired length is created.

The fur consumption for a coat was given in 1965:

Whole heads left out 60 to 80 heads

Muskrat back 80 to 100 pieces

Muskrat 90 to 110 pieces

GDR parliament President Horst Sindermann with Bisam- Ushanka

In recent years muskrat has been used less and less, mostly the German or Dutch muskrat catcher only earns the state catch premium, the skins are destroyed with the hide. In the Netherlands, over 400,000 animals were caught in 2004, the most productive year of the control measures there, and the skins were probably all unused. The German tobacco wholesaler paid less than € 3 for a very good raw hide in 2009, which makes peeling off and shipping not very lucrative for the catcher. In 1891 a furrier from Frankfurt and in 1913 a furrier from Gera described the muskrat as the “bread of the furrier”, at least until the turn of the millennium it was still one of the most important merchandise in the fur industry.

Muskrat is used for all items of clothing and in a wide variety of finishes, including for men's inner linings and hats. Currently mostly sheared again (without previous plucking) and traded as a velvet bisam , it is dyed in all fashion colors. In Central Europe, the lighter dewlap is mostly used for women's clothing.

• 

  full-skin bisam coat (1985)

• 

  half-skinned bisam coat (approx. 1985?)

• 

  Bisam coat in omitted processing (incised and omitted, Recklinghausen approx. 1952)

• 

  Muskrat back jacket
  (redesigned in 2008)

• 

  Scarf made of narrow, braided muskrat strips
  (China-Import, 2010)

Velvet bisam

The plucked or sheared muskrat was traded in the first half of the 20th century, mostly dyed black, under the name Sealbisam. The plucked fur hair harbor seal, the seal coat , was at the time one of the important items of fur fashion. This imitation fur finishing contributed significantly to the introduction of muskrat in large quantities into fur fashion. This fashion has been experiencing a renaissance since around the 1970s. Since seal no longer has any meaning for the customer, the plucked or sheared fur types are now usually provided with the addition "velvet", velvet mink, velvet nutri or velvet bisam. As an aquatic animal, the muskrat, like otters, beavers and nutria, has a particularly dense undercoat and is therefore particularly suitable for this type of fur refinement . Around 1990 only about half of the recycled muskrats were processed unsheared in their natural color.

In 1984/85 a new shearing and dyeing process for muskrat was developed, which became established worldwide. At the same time, the tear resistance is increased by a finishing process in which retanning must be used, which stabilizes the leather and the hair in order to achieve the desired shear effect. For a long time, shear refinement for muskrat backs was considered difficult, and moreover, the lighter and larger-sized dewlaps, the abdominal parts, were mostly in demand from the trade, which was reflected in the lower price and an overhang of muskrat backs. Up until the middle of the 20th century, the (natural) muskrat backs were the more sought-after fur. The leather of the back is thicker, stricter, not as quick (especially with heavy goods) than with dewlaps. The side of the hair with the side glands, thicker guard hair, hair change zones and not so dense wool looks "ignoble" and uneven when left in its natural color and shaved. By using light back fur, halving it (splitting) and sewing it together in a special way, a relatively even hair distribution is achieved in the fur panels, which are sheared, refined and dyed with opaque colors to create an attractive appearance. The splitting processing was developed in collaboration with British muskrat specialists. The muskrat is sheared exclusively in panels that have already been assembled, with the jacket body being divided into three parts beforehand.

• 

  Coat made of dyed and sheared muskrat known as the "Hudson Seal" and American mink (USA, 1917)

• 

  Velvet muskrat parka (1986)

• 

  Jacket made of velvet bisam head pieces in grooved cord (Fürth, 2005)

• 

  Men's coat made of dyed velvet bisamwammen fur in grooved cord (Düsseldorf, 2009)

facts and figures

• Detailed trade figures for North American tobacco products can be found at

Emil Brass : From the realm of fur. 1st edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911

Emil Brass: From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925

Emil Brass: From the realm of fur. (1911) on the Internet

Milan Novak et al, Ministry of Natural Resources: Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America . Ontario 1987, ISBN 0-7778-6086-4 . (English).

Milan Novak et al, Ministry of Natural Resources: Furbearer Harvests in North America, 1600-1984 , appendix to the above Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America . Ontario 1987, ISBN 0-7729-3564-5 . (English).

• Assessment of North American muskrat according to origin

a) According to Franke / Kroll (1988)

Canada
	EB Eskimo-Bai, EM East Main and FG Fort Georgia, MR Moose River, and YF York Fort (Hudson's Bay Company Designations of Origin)	dark, good skins
	MKR Mackenzie River, NW Northwest, Yukon, AL (Alaska?) (Hudson's Bay Company Designation of Origin)	good qualities, but lighter in color, partly yellowish brown
	Cana (Designation of Origin of the Hudson's Bay Company)	even lighter in color
United States
	New England States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Islands, Connecticut)	best skins
	South Maine	thinner in hair; Leather papierner
	Northern part of New York State	big skins
	Northern Michigan Peninsula	small, good quality skins
	Northern Ohio and Indiana	good goods
	Central Indiana and Central Ohio	very large skins of medium quality
	Southern Indiana, Southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia	coarse skins of poor quality
	Virginia, North Carolina	coarse, large hides
	South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama	coarse, flat, large skins
	Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin	large skins of good quality
	Northern Iowa	large skins of medium quality
	Minnesota, North and South Dakota	medium-sized skins, sparse
	Southern Iowa, Northern Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska	large, medium-quality skins
	South Missouri, North Arkansas	large skins of inferior quality
	Montana, Idaho, Wyoming	good but lighter skins
	Colorado, Nevada, Utah	small, flat, light-colored skins
* Commonly the foregoing are traded as northern muskrat. * So called southern muskrat come from:
	Texas	small to medium short-haired, dense skins, particularly good in color (very dark, gray-blue), best variety
	Louisianna, Arizona, Mexico	like Texas but not as good in color, small to medium in size
* The colorfully expressive, fine-haired black bisam with dark back are particularly valued . The dewlap is also darker than in the other species (more gray-black). They come mainly from the states of Delaware and New Jersey.

b) According to Reichardt (1962)

Northern muskrat	The northern type provides a strong, smoky fur, which is particularly suitable for shearing purposes (seal bisam, known as velvet bisam since around the 1980s) and naturally for long hair imitations. All sections of this tradition must be treated separately in order to obtain perfect assortments. The fur known as the northern or Canadian muskrat varies from dark blue-brown in the eastern sections of Canada and the USA to red-brown in the western sections.
The individual sections are:
Rice Lake (Trent River) (Ontario)	Qualitatively the best, on average decent size.
Ontario	Slightly weaker than Rice Lake, but same appearance and size.
North Ohio , Indiana , Illinois , New York-States and Michigan	Skins in this section are also known as "States Muskrats" or "Great Lakes Muskrats". Excellent quality but not as big as Canadian Rice Lake and Ontario.
New England	Compared to the Great Lake section, second class. Smaller on average. Usually the lots contain 30 to 40 percent medium and small skins. - All the sections listed so far are noticeable for their particularly oily and supple skin as well as a dark, long awn and a dark blue undercoat.
Lake of the Woods and Wisconsin	Favorable average size, medium-strength leather. The undercoat is less dense than the previous sections.
Central-States	Most are collected in St. Louis , where they are sorted into heavier - then Eastern - and lighter - then Central - designated. Good size but not of special quality.
North Virginia	Large skins; Quality hardly different from Central. The Northern Virginias are therefore mostly sorted into the Centrals, the heavy hides into the Eastern.
Maryland - Delaware and New Jersey	Very small compared to the Centrals and Northern Virginias, but decidedly better quality.
Nova Scotia	Large, thickly woolly, heavily leathery.
North Québec and North Ontario	Thin leather, medium size, thickly woolly.
Central and North Canada	Except for the North Manitoba section, medium-sized skins. Furs from Saskatchewan , Alberta and South Manitoba have relatively little undercoat and are mostly thin-leather. Hardly for shearing, but all the more suitable for upper hair imitations.
Yucon and British Columbia	Fine wool and thin leather.

Dyed, galonized muskrat jacket (Düsseldorf, 2015)

Muskrat men's cap (China 2006)

• In 1925 the tobacco wholesaler Jonni Wende offered:

Muskrat

Prepared, natural, southern 5 to 8 Reichsmarks

Prepared, natural, northern 7 to 11 Reichsmarks

Prepared, natural, seal-dyed 11 to 16 Reichsmarks

Muskrat dewlap strips, seal-dyed 60 to 80 Reichsmarks

Muskrat back stripes, seal-stained 80 to 120 Reichsmarks

Muskrat back lining, south of 120 to 160 Reichsmarks

Muskrat lining 100 to 150 Reichsmarks

Muskrat back lining, north of 160 to 300 Reichsmarks

Bisampumpfeeding 70 to 110 Reichsmarks

Muskrat lining 75 to 120 Reichsmarks

• In 1927 , Hodgson campaigned for the English-speaking world to use the Indian name “musquash” instead of “muskrat” (musk rat), since the previous name aroused a completely unfounded aversion to the animal among the population. In America, muskrat was a popular fur under the name "Hudson seal". However, when this name could no longer be used and muskrat had to be called "black-dyed, shared muskrat" (black-colored, sheared musk rat), the interest in buying dropped suddenly. Only muskrat in light colors were used for the inner lining.

• Before 1944

Before 1944 , the maximum price for muskrats was
	northern origin RM	southern origin RM
whole skins, light	7.50	6.20
whole skins, dark	11.10	7.50
Back, bright	6.75	4.00
Back, dark	7.00	5.75
Dewlap, red *	3.50	3.00
Dewlaps, blue *	4.00	4.00
whole skins, colored	14.00	8.50
whole skins, seal-dyed	15.50
* Red and blue are technical terms used in the fur industry. Red are the lighter, reddish shades (more like summer goods), blue the darker, bluish colors (more like winter.)

• In 1986 the Dutch authorities employed 700 professional muskrat catchers; the catch was 250,000 animals. In a pilot project with seven furriers, an attempt should be made to create a national or international utilization of the skins.
• In 2015 , the entire January supply of muskrat from North American Fur Auctions (NAFA) went to China. A specialist publication notes: “They will be made into panels for the trimming business and will hopefully be sold on to the fashion industry in Korea. Obviously the Koreans no longer buy these goods directly at the auction, but rather prefer to purchase the tablets made by China directly there. "
• In 2017 , 4470 muskrat hats were ordered for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . A representative of the Canadian National Police announced that nothing beats muskrat when it comes to keeping officers' heads warm in extreme cold.

annotation

1. ↑ The specified comparative values ​​( coefficients ) are the result of comparative tests by furriers and tobacco shops with regard to the degree of apparent wear and tear. The figures are ambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of shelf life in practice, there are also influences from tanning and finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case. More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The classification was made in steps of 10 percent each, only the weakest species received the value class of 5 to 10 percent. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

See also

• fur
• Other types of fur
• Furrier

Web links

Commons : Muskrats  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Commons : Muskrat Apparel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : muskrat processing  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Christian Franke, Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel's Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89, 10th revised and supplemented new edition . Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt
2. ^ ^{A b} John C. Sachs: Furs and the Fur Trade. 3. Edition. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London, undated (1950s?), Pp. 76–78, 137 (English).
3. ^ Heinrich Dathe, Paul Schöps: Pelztieratlas. VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Leipzig 1986, p. 122.
4. ^ ^{A b} Ernst Walter Maerz: Bisam - Ondatra zibethica - Musquash . In: Die Pelzwirtschaft issue 9, September 1968, CB-Verlag Carl Boldt, p. 18.
5. ↑ Paul Schöps, H. Brauckhoff, K. Häse, Richard König , W. Straube-Daiber: The durability coefficients of fur skins. In: The fur trade. Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin / Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig / Vienna, pp. 56–58.
6. ↑ Editor: The durability of fur hair . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt Nr. 26, Leipzig, June 28, 1940, p. 12. Primary source: American Fur Breeder , USA (Note: All comparisons put the sea otter fur at 100 percent). → Comparison of durability .
7. ↑ Paul Schöps, Kurt Häse: The fineness of the hair - the fineness classes. In: The fur trade. Vol. VI / new series, 1955 No. 2, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Leipzig / Berlin / Frankfurt am Main, pp. 39–40.
8. ↑ Bruno Fritz: The largest muskrat breeding company in the world. In: The German fur breeder. Volume 11, issue 20, Berlin October 15, 1936, pp. 426-430.
9. ^ Fritz Schmidt: Memories of Pushkino, the I. Moscow Zoo Farm . In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 2, 1966, Berlin et al., P. 66.
10. ^ WDR 2: OWL on muskrat hunt. Interview: Beate Depping, muskrat catcher: Josef Sandheinrich. March 23, 2009, script of the show
11. ^ Martyn E. Obbard: Fur Grading and Pelt Identification . In: Wild Furbearer Management and Conservation in North America . Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario, 1987, p. 732 (English), ISBN 0-7743-9365-3 .
12. ↑ ^{a b c} Emil Brass : From the realm of fur. Verlag neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung, Berlin 1911, pp. 603-609.
13. ↑ ^{a b c} Jochen Sager: What are "kidney spots" in muskrat fur. In: All about fur. Rhenania-Verlag, Koblenz November 1975, p. 8.
14. ↑ H. Wensky: Interesting facts about the muskrat . In all about fur. November 1954, pp. 14-16.
15. ↑ ^{a b} Paul Cubaeus: The whole of Skinning. A. Hartleben's Verlag, Vienna / Pest / Leipzig 1891, pp. 305-316.
16. ^ Heinrich Lomer : The tobacco shop. Self-published, Leipzig 1864, p. 18 (primary source Dathe / Schöps)
17. ↑ ^{a b c} Heinrich Dathe, Paul Schöps: The muskrat. In: The fur trade. Supplement to the magazine Hermelin. Hermelin-Verlag, 1951, No. 3, pp. 1-15.
18. ↑ Max Bachrach: Fur. Prentice-Hall, 1936, pp. 122–123 (English).
19. ^ Cyril J. Rosenberg: Furs & Furriery. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London 1927, pp. 185-201 (English).
20. ↑ J. Sager: Flank gland damage in the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). In: All about fur. Issue 3, Rhenania-Fachverlag, Koblenz March 1977, p. 93.
21. ↑ Johann Christian Schedel's new and complete lexicon of goods or a clear description of all raw a. processed products, artifacts and merchandise. Publisher Carl Ludwig Brede, Offenbach am Main 1814.
22. ↑ Paul Larisch , Josef Schmid: The furrier craft. III. Part: The processing of the skins. 1st year No. 2, Paris, November 1902, p. 55.
23. ↑ W. Künzel: From raw fur to smoking goods. Alexander Duncker Verlagbuchhandlung, Leipzig, undated (around 1935?), P. 17 and 100
24. ↑ Erhard Klumpp, Kurt Floericke: Pelzbüchlein. Kosmos, Franck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Leipzig 1930, p. 19.
25. ^ Friedrich Lorenz: Rauchwareenkunde. People and knowledge people's own publishing house, 1958, p. 48.
26. ^ Anna Bird Stewart: The Fur Book of Knowledge . Selbert Ltd., New York, p. 52 (English). (natural muskrat, golden muskrat, silver muskrat).
27. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelzlexikon. VII. Volume, Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949, pp. 86–90.
28. ↑ Paul Schöps, Ludwig Brauser, August Dietzsch, Kurt Häse, Richard König sen. , Friedrich Malm, W. Straube: The material requirement for fur clothing. In: The fur trade. 1965 No. 1, p. 9 (the measurements were assumed for a so-called coat body, at that time 112 cm high, at the bottom 160, at the top 140 cm wide; sleeves 60 × 140 cm. - Note: between the outlet processing and the "whole" furry processing, there is apparently a disproportion.)
29. ↑ Annual reports of the Landelijke coördinatiecommissie Muskusrattenbestrijding ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
30. ^ Hans Werner: The furrier art. Publishing house Bernh. Friedr. Voigt, Leipzig 1914, p. 70.
31. ^ EH Green: Trapping Methods. In: Fur News , New York, November 1917, p. 7.
32. ↑ Jochen Sager: Troubles. In: The fur industry. 11/1989, CB-Verlag Carl Boldt, December 5, 1989, pp. 2-4.
33. ↑ Emil Brass: From the realm of fur. Publishing house of the Neue Pelzwaren Zeitung, 1911 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
34. ^ Friedrich Hering: Muskrat, Skunks, American Opossum. In: Rauchwarenkunde. Eleven lectures on the product knowledge of the fur trade. Verlag der Rauchwarenmarkt, Leipzig 1931, pp. 26–35.
35. ^ Hansjürgen Reichardt: Muskrat. In: “Brühl” May / June 1962, VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, pp. 9-10.
36. ↑ Jonni Wende company brochure, Rauchwaren en wholesale, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, New York, August 1925, pp. 4, 7.
37. ^ Friedrich Malm, August Dietzsch: The art of the furrier. Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1951, p. 24.
38. ↑ Without author's name: Muskrat Battle Stepped-up. In: Fur Review. March 1986, London, p. 22 (English).
39. ↑ Editor: North American Fur Auctions January 2015 . In: Pelzmarkt Newsletter , 03/15, March 2015, p. 3. Also there, 08/15, August 2015, p. 3.
40. ↑ Alisan Crawford, CBC News: Wanted by the Mounties: 4,470 muskrat hats , October 4, 2017 (English). Last accessed November 3, 2017.