Wolverine

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Left Siberian wolverine, right from Alaska

Wolverine skins are sold in the world tobacco shops and processed into furs by furriers . Wolverines are protected in the Federal Republic of Germany according to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance, and skins from other origins may not be imported for trade.

Because the name " wolverine " seems unsuitable, the animal was often given its Scandinavian name Järv or called "bear marten" because of its bear-like shape. In English the animal is called Wolverine (mistakenly suggesting a relationship to the wolf) or Glutton.

The fur is particularly suitable for hood trimmings in frosty regions, as the breath hardly condenses as ice on the hair, but can at least be easily stripped off. The durability coefficient for wolverine fur is one of the highest among the fur types , it is given as 90 to 100 percent. When the fur types are divided into the hair fineness classes silky, fine, medium-fine, coarse and hard, wolverine hair is classified as coarser.

Occurrence

Wolverines inhabit the taiga and tundra belts of the northern hemisphere. In Europe it occurs in northern Scandinavia and Russia to Kamchatka . In America it is found around Hudson Bay , British Columbia and parts of Alaska . More recently it has spread to Asia and North America, and it has also been sighted in Greenland. It used to be native to Poland, southern Canada and the northeastern United States. Most wolverine skins come from the York Factory area west of Hudson Bay , less fine-haired, lighter skins from the Labrador Peninsula .

hide

  • Award-winning wolverine pelts (1982)

  • Cape, mixed with a second type of fur

  • Two jackets made using outlet technology

With a head body length of 85 cm to 100 cm and a weight of 15 to 20 kg, the wolverine is the largest of the marten-like after the sea otter. Males are larger than females. The tail length is 18 to 23 centimeters. The leather is relatively heavy.

A special characteristic is the differently pronounced angular markings on the sides and the enclosed middle section on the back, the "saddle" or the "medallion". The broad, light, yellowish angular drawing begins, mostly still blurred, in two stripes on the head and curves sideways to the rear, only to collide there again. The guard hairs are slightly longer in the back than on the sides. The long, shiny upper hair is coarse and taut, the undercoat is fine. The ears are relatively small; the paws extraordinarily large; the soles are densely hairy.

The color of the coat varies both individually and geographically, both in terms of color and badge. The basic color is brown to almost black, sometimes light brown. The back and tail appear light to cinnamon brown, due to the dark awns and the light undercoat. Russian traditions are somewhat darker than American ones overall. The throat and chest have several small, irregular, yellowish-white spots; on the last third of the underside of the trunk is the yellowish-orange glandular spot that is characteristic of species of marten. The face is up to the eyes, the lower neck, stomach and legs are dark brown to black brown. A striking mask of yellowish-white guard hair extends between the eyes and ears from the forehead to the cheeks.

Fur structure : The woolen hair layer of winter fur is 30 to 35 millimeters long, it covers the whole body. It is not matted, but very loose. The awns have very different lengths on the individual parts of the body. They reach 12 to 15 millimeters on the shoulders and thighs. The hair stands out from the leather at a large angle, so that the coarse fur appears loose and shaggy. The hairs on the short, bushy and thick tail are up to 28 millimeters long.

The hair change takes place in the spring from March to the end of April. The wool hairs fall out and the basic tone of the fur becomes more reddish. In autumn there is no noticeable change of hair, the woolen hair grows back and the awns become darker due to pigment deposition. The winter fur is formed in mid-August.

Trade, history

Two Nalukataq women in wolverine-lined parkas, 2006 in Barrow (Alaska)
"Sunburst Ruff" made of wolverine and wolf fur on a hood paneling of a Yupik (2009)

Wolverine skins were highly valued in the areas where they were found, where they were primarily used. Steller reported in 1753 that the Kamchadals (called Rosomako there, especially the very light skins were highly valued) were given so much skins, including even sea ​​otter skins, for a wolverine until the value was 60 rubles. The Olaus Magnus , Bishop of Uppsala, commented in 1955 a nasty side effect that "wearing all those who clothes from this animal never be able to stop eating and drinking." It is said of the Kamchadalen women that they "adorn their hair with the white paws of the animal, and consider them such a large dress that their imagination is wont to pre-grind angels clad in wolverine skins". The Yakuts paid for these skins well too . The small but fine-haired and dark Siberian skins were also processed in Russia itself. As late as 1900, wolverine fur was regarded by most of the Siberian peoples as the most valuable fur and was used with preference for their clothing . The interest in pelts in their own country also applied to America, at the beginning of the 20th century the Alaskan Indians paid 30 dollars for a fur, so that at all times either no or only a few pelts from the various regions made it into world trade. However, the hunt is often not done because of the fur. Wolverines are often unpopular because they occasionally stalk herd animals themselves, rob baited traps and loot human pantries. A book for trappers published by the Hudson's Bay Company states: "If a wolverine appears in a district, the trapper has only two options: he must catch him or he must give up trapping".

In 1762, in a description of the types of fur, the only mentioned use of the wolverine was "to muffle in front of the men". Scandinavian wolverine pelts were often used for Fußdecken, in later times, to fashion the Pelzkolliers, for these crafted animal-shaped scarves, dünnledrige skins for fur lining of travel furs . Because of its supposed good properties, it was particularly popular in America during World War II . After bad experiences in the military with wolf skins and coyote skins , experiments had been made there in freezers with water-sprayed bellows of various fur animals. With the exception of the wolverines, all of them subsequently had guard hairs more or less stuck together with lumps of ice. Wolverine skins could never become really fashionable, however, in the fur trade they hardly played a role, which is mainly due to their low occurrence at all times. The Russian trade standard is different

by tradition : Siberian and Russian
according to varieties : I = full-haired; II = less full-haired; II = half-haired; IV = thin
by color : brown, dark brown, light (pale)

The skins are closed, pulled off round, and delivered with the hair on the outside.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) classified the species as “not endangered” in 2010 (“Least Concern”).
  • Protection status:
Gulo gulo , only European wild populations are protected under the Washington Convention, Appendix II; according to FFH directive EG 2006/105 [FFH] Annex: II; However, in Germany, the non-European occurrences are also specially protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act , so as not to favor hunting in their home countries.
Detailed protection data: first listing since January 21, 1987; specially protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act since January 1, 1987.

processing

  • Wolverine processing around 1900

  • "Cutting up a wolverine skin as it usually has to be done"

  • For trim strips or muffle sheets

  • The sloping sides with paws can be used to make "very beautiful and durable blankets"

The wolverine fur is mainly used for collars, trimmings and embellishments as well as for smaller garments such as shawls or sleeves used for processing into coats the leather is really too heavy. Wolverine fur is particularly popular with Eskimos for trimming hats and hoods. In 1959 it was said that they would happily pay up to one hundred dollars for a hide and that the fur was therefore only sparse on the market. Occasionally, a strip Wolverine coat is placed toward the face at the edge of the hood, behind the silvery mane of a Wolf fur , popular in North America as "sun dawn" -Verbrämung ( "sunburst" ruff).

Processing into sports furs was mentioned as another use. For jackets and coats, the fur was initially mostly used as a whole fur in order to maintain the oval fur pattern, with the hair down. It is rarely colored , but sometimes darkened ( blinded ) in the hair . In the 1970 / 1980s, a time of long-haired fashion for fur coats and jackets, wolverine skins were occasionally used exuberantly for special individual items . The fur is cut into very narrow strips, which are sewn back together so that they form the length of the garment. The material- saving gallooning , the sewing in of narrow leather strips, also makes the relatively thick-leather and heavy wolverine skins lighter and loosens the hair. In the case of air gallooning , the fur leather is only cut into and pulled apart like a net and thus fixed.

The ability to repair wolverine pelts is given as "excellent, edges can be repaired well".

Numbers and facts

  • Between 1750 and 1910 , according to statistics from the Hudson's Bay Company , rarely more than 2,000 pelts were sold annually.
  • Between 1940 and 1965 , an average of 70 skins came onto the market from Scandinavia including Finland each year.
  • Between 1950 and 1960 , US fur deliveries were between 311 and 780 pieces per year.
  • 1985/86 season , that season in Canada 561 wolverines were bought for an average of $ 31. This season, the total number of skins for Canada and the USA was 2000, in the former Soviet Union it was probably less.
  • In 1986 the auction offer in the Soviet Union was 1200 skins, in 1987 it was 750 skins. According to Russian information, the world supply at the time was 6000 skins, of which 30 percent came from the Soviet Union.

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 not unambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of durability in practice, there are also influences from fur dressing and fur finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case . More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The division was made in steps of ten percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

See also

Commons : Wolverines  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Wolverine Skin Apparel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ´s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, pp. 59–60.
  2. ↑ Paul Schöps; H. Brauckhoff, Stuttgart; K. Häse, Leipzig, Richard König , Frankfurt / Main; W. Straube-Daiber, Stuttgart: The durability coefficients of fur skins . In: Das Pelzgewerbe , Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, pp. 56–58.
  3. ↑ Paul Schöps, Kurt Häse: The fineness of the hair - the fineness classes . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. VI / New Series, 1955 No. 2, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 39–40 (Note: fine (partly silky); medium-fine (partly fine); coarse (medium-fine to coarse)).
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Heinrich Dathe , Paul Schöps, with the collaboration of 11 specialists: Fur Animal Atlas . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1986, pp. 178-180.
  5. ↑ a b c Friedrich Lorenz: Rauchwarenkunde , 4th edition. Volk und Wissen publishing house, Berlin 1958, pp. 100-101.
  6. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XXI. Tape. Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1951. Keyword “Wolverine”.
  7. ^ A b Emil Brass: From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition, publisher of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, pp. 595–597.
  8. ↑ Peter Krott: The Wolverine or Järv . "Die neue Brehm-Bücherei", A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg, 1960, p. 4.
  9. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 1st edition, published by the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, pp. 498–499.
  10. ↑ a b c d Fritz Schmidt: The book of the fur animals and fur . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970, pp. 287-292.
  11. ↑ Joachim Heinrich Campe: Collection of interesting and consistently two-kilometer formulated travelogues for the youth . Volumes 12-14, p. 68, Grözinger, 1793. Retrieved December 5, 2014 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
  12. ^ A b Paul Larisch , Josef Schmid: Das Kürschner-Handwerk . III. Part, self-published in Paris, 1902 or 1903, p. 51.
  13. ^ Workshops of the modern arts, Berlin: Der Kirschner . Hall 1762 , p. 312.
  14. ↑ Peter Krott: The Wolverine. A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg 1960, pp. 20, 23, 25.
  15. ↑ http://www.iucnredlist.org Last accessed December 3, 2014.
  16. ↑ www.wisia.de . Last accessed December 3, 2014.
  17. ^ Fritz Schmidt: The book of the fur and fur animals . Primary source L. White in the monthly Field and Stream .
  18. ↑ Peter Krott: The Wolverine (Gulo gulo L. 1758) . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1959, p. 21.
  19. ↑ www.truthaboutfur.com, Simon Ward: How Does Wolverine Fur Work? Hint: It's Not Hydrophobic . 16th August 2019.
  20. ^ A b David G. Kaplan: World of Furs . Fairchield Publications. Inc., New York 1974, p. 196 (quote: "Repairability: Excellent - re-edges well". (Engl.)).