Wolf skin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anders Zorn , self-portrait with arctic wolf fur (1915)

General

Two Men in Wolf Coats (Sweden 1897)

Wolves were persecuted as pests. Today it is only found in the Asian parts of the former Soviet Union, in Mongolia, Alaska, Canada and Mexico, and occasionally in the mountains of southwestern Europe, in Scandinavia, Finland and Eastern Europe. Some smaller populations are rebuilding in Germany.

As a result of the wide distribution area, the furs show great differences in color and hair texture. Usually they are more or less yellow-brown, but there are also darker to almost black, as well as very light ones. The back often shows a saddle-like drawing caused by the black awning tips. Except for a few American races, the hair is coarse and stiff, sometimes of different lengths. The fur is 1.00 to 1.40 meters long, the tail 30 to 48 centimeters.

The durability coefficient for wolf skins is given as 60 to 70 percent. When fur animals are divided into the hair fineness classes silky, fine, medium-fine, coarse and hard, the wolf hair is classified as coarser, that of the arctic wolf as fine.

The most valuable skins are that of the arctic wolf, the best of the others that of the Siberian wolf. The central and Kazakh wolves are rated lower, the Central Asian wolves even lower, the worst species being the Caucasian wolves. According to polar researchers Nansen and Sverdrup , the skins of Canadian and Siberian wolves provide the best protection against the cold.

Some American and Asian wolf populations were included in Appendix I of the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species , all others in Appendix II. The European populations have been strictly protected according to BNatSchG since August 31, 1980, maximum protection since June 1, 1997.

History, processing

Hunter with wolf skins (frieze at the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris)
Polar explorer Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) with a wolfskin parka and pants

  • Cutting machine in a wolf's skin for the production of two sleeves (between 1762 and 1777)

  • Ceiling processing from four wolves (working sketch, 1895)

The Scythians' reports of the neurs, their northern neighbors, mentioned in Herodotus (* 490/480 BC; † around 424 BC) , the transformations of the neurs into wolves are mostly interpreted as meaning that the neurs are in wolf pelts due to the climate dressed.

" [...] the Scythians and the Hellenes who live in the Scythian country claim that once a year each of the newcomers transforms into a wolf for a few days and then returns to the human condition. "

Other northern European men have also been reported to dress in wolf skin, especially during combat. In the Vatnsdœla Saga , for example, it is narrated:

“That was King Harald's greatest battle; there stood with him Rögnvald von Möre and many other great chiefs, as well as berserkers who were called wolfskins; they wore wolf skins instead of the fountain and shielded the bow of the king's ship. "

When wolves were still abundant in Central Europe, the pelts were used as underlay in beds and as fur lining . " The wolf skin is secretly used for beltz and lining purposes under the clothes / and maggots / fleas or lice do not get into it so easily" (Fürstlich-Adlige neuersonnene Jagdlust, 1711).

About the Gray Wolf states in 1762, that it only to the Decken for Stubenthüren to the Schue it from Kote can use to clean, or blackening .

In Russia, Poland, Hungary and Turkey in particular, the thinner-leather wolf skins were processed into travel furs . A further use up to the second half of the 20th century was in large numbers of room, sledge and wagon blankets as well as footmuffs made of fur, and coachman sets were also used, " albeit of a somewhat conspicuous nature ". The opulent men's coats, mainly made from Russian arctic wolves, were called Wildschur , already mentioned around 1300 as "Wintschur". The German word, which is incorrectly based on game and shear, comes from Polish, where it is called wilczura, derived from "wilk" (plural of wolf). With rooms heated everywhere and above all with closed, air-conditioned vehicles, game shearing became superfluous.

However, the use of wolf skins has always been quite limited. Skins in which ears, nose, lips and eye holes were uninjured were later naturalized in many ways, that is, the head was stuffed, usually provided with artificial teeth, in order to then serve as decoration for men's and hunting rooms. Around 1900, when feather and fur boas were very much in vogue, some beautiful wolf skins were also used for this type of hairy fur scarf. For this, the middle of the fur (the grot ) was cut out at least three to four centimeters wide, otherwise it would stick out like a comb and often bristly. Boas were also made from these Grotzen stripes, albeit of lower quality, by twisting them around a string in narrow stripes (see the article on tail twisting ). The hair of the sloping Grotzen was also used for lace , the refinement of cheaper types of fur than silver fox imitations.

Until the 1940s, wolf was otherwise used as clothing only for trimming or for fur scarves. The fur mostly remained natural, but it was also colored in different shades: beige and silver on the lighter coats, brown, brown-black and blue-black on the darker types.

For countries with a Central European climate, the currently accumulating furs are mainly processed into trimmings for collars and hoods, sometimes into fur blankets and almost rarely into the conspicuous, because voluminous (men's) jackets and coats. Even around the 1960s / 1970s, men's coats made of wolf fur were seen more often in winter sports resorts and ice rinks, the "gentleman playboy" Gunter Sachs was a prominent wearer of a wolf coat - according to today's trade it was more likely a coyote coat. The skins of Canadian and Siberian wolves are actually too heavy and also too huge for our latitudes to be processed into clothing, so the coats and jackets traded under the common name of wolf at the time came almost without exception from the coyote, which according to today's zoological classification actually remained northern wolf pelts Full fur clothing is largely reserved for polar explorers, Eskimos and other northerners.

Only occasionally, for example, were even timber wolves worked into impressive furs for the brave man. In order to reduce the weight and to make the thickly matted fur more fragrant, narrow strips of leather (galons) were sometimes sewn into the fur, the so-called galonizing . The skins can be changed to the required lengths at the expense of the width using the kürschner technique of letting out. The skins are particularly suitable as hood trims in extremely cold areas (Alaska), because when it is frosty, the breath does not frost the hair as much as with most other types of fur. However, since timber wolf hides are predominantly used for decorative rugs or wall decorations in hunting lodges, summer camps and sometimes in hobby cellars, it is important that the heads with the noses and the paws, including the claws, are preserved during peeling and tanning.

As with all types of fur, the falling pieces of fur are also used from the wolf's fur . Paws, heads and parts of the torso are put together to form so-called bodies if there is enough space. The main place for bodywork in Europe has always been the Greek Kastoria and the smaller, nearby town of Siatista . As a semi-finished fur product , the fur panels are exported again for final processing, mostly for use as lining for winter textile clothing and for smaller items such as fur vests.

Commercial grades

  • Timberwolf, Broken Range, Canada

  • Ventral side

  • Back side

Timberwolf men's jacket (approx. 2003)
Wolf as uniform trimmings of higher military ranks ( Saint Petersburg , Lieutenant Mordvinova, 1842)

The following subspecies are recognized zoologically:

Arabian wolf , Egyptian wolf , Buffalo wolf , Eurasian wolf , Hokkaidō wolf (extinct), Honshū wolf (extinct), Iberian wolf , Indian wolf , Italian wolf , Canadian wolf , Caspian wolf , Mackenzie wolf , Mexican wolf , arctic wolf , Russian wolf , Tibetan wolf , timber wolf and the tundra wolf .

The following terms are common in the tobacco industry:

Gray wolf
The back, tail, and flanks of the North American gray wolf are gray (a mix of black, white, and brown guard hair), the dewlap and throat are lighter, occasionally almost white. The paws, the muzzle and the ears are light brown to cinnamon in color.
Timber wolf or gray wolf
The northern tribes of the North American Timber Wolf have thick, soft, long hair, usually also a pronounced mane. Timber wolves have a very variable coat color, from white to black, but mostly they are brown. Young animals are born black. As a rule, the coat becomes a little lighter with every change of coat , but the age of an animal cannot be determined by its coat color. They reach a body length of about 120 to 140 centimeters. The bushy tail is 40 to 50 centimeters long. Not all types of timber wolf skins are large, but some of the largest in the wolf family are found.
Arctic wolf, also white wolf
The skins of the arctic wolf from the northern regions of North America are long-haired and very soft, light to almost white with occasional gray and black hair. The skins from the southern regions are greyish or yellowish, partly (technically speaking) blue with clear black markings, the underside is white.

The Russian standard is different

  • Arctic wolves (tundra and forest tundra zones, Kamchatka): very thick, lush and soft hair, 11 cm to 13 cm long at the withers. The dark guard hairs on the withers form an eel line . The thickly hairy dewlap and the paws are whitish, almost white; the rest of the basic color is light or dark gray, slightly bluish;
  • Timber wolf and steppe wolf .
Commercial varieties according to the Russian standard
Timberwolf Steppe wolves
Siberians
(all of Siberia and the Far East, except tundra areas, northern parts of Kazakhstan)
Size like polar wolves, hair thick, long, soft, not as silky as polar, guard hair on the withers 9 to 11 centimeters, color light gray, slightly darker on the withers, belly whitish, paws gray. Size like Timberwolf, coat somewhat coarse, medium opulence, backbone and flanks gray with a clear tinge of brown or fox-red, belly fox-red or yellowish, paws brown.
Kazakhstan
(Kazakhstan except northern area)
Smaller, coat less dense, length of the guard hairs at the withers up to 7 centimeters. Coarse upper hair, ash gray with a yellowish tinge, dewlap gray.
Central Asian
(Central Asia, here mountain wolf)
Hair soft and long, not very dense, color light whitish gray, somewhat darker on the backbone, flanks and dewlap whitish. Smaller than the mountain wolves mentioned opposite, hair not very dense, somewhat coarse, back light yellowish-gray, dewlap grayish.
Central
(European part of the former USSR except the tundra areas, Ukraine, North Caucasus and the basin of the middle and lower reaches of the Volga)
Almost as big as the Siberian wolf, hairs of medium density, guard hair on the withers up to 9 centimeters long. Quite dark, gray, often with a brownish tinge. Dewlap white or yellowish. Slightly smaller than Central Timber Wolf. Hair not very dense, coarse, awny. Back and flanks brownish or fox-reddish gray, dewlap yellowish.
Caucasian
(Ukraine, Crimea, North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Lower Volga)
Medium-sized. Hairiness somewhat sparse, coarse. The length of the guard hairs at the withers does not exceed 7.5 centimeters. Back and sides dirty gray, often dark due to densely packed dark awns. Dewlap dirty white with a yellowish tinge. Same size as Timberwolf. Hair short, sparse, coarse. Back mostly rust-brown or rust-brown-gray, strongly darkened by the dark tips of the guard hairs. Pages lighter, dewlap dirty white.

Auction assortments of the Canadian origin Arctic, YF (York Fort - about Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba to western Hudson Bay) and NW (northwest)

Sizes : exlarge = over 120 centimeters, large = 90 to 120 centimeters, small = under 90 centimeters.
Types : I, I & No. 2, I & II, II, III, damaged
Colors : light gray or dark blue
  • The Canadian sections supply skins that are particularly suitable for trimmings and small parts. The best Canadian qualities come from Northwest Canada and Hudson Bay. Pelts from eastern Canada are smaller. Compared to other areas, Canadian pelts are particularly soft-haired. The silky guard hair is very long and flowing, it is held upright by the thick undercoat. The peritoneum is white with a slight gray tinge, it gradually darkens towards the back, there it is pale gray with a bluish tinge. The crescent-shaped wolf's mane at the level of the shoulders is significantly narrower than in the other American traditions.
The difference in value between the Northwestern Canada type and that of Hudson Bay and Manitoba Alberta was given in 1936 with 10 to 15 percent in favor of the northwest qualities.
  • From the Northwestern United States section (northern Prairie States ) come skins that differ only slightly in structure from the Canadian types: The mane is stronger and the head body length is an estimated 15 percent shorter.
  • Western United States Section (western and far western states) supply the type of wolf known in the fur trade as "Western", which actually consists of two types, at least in the past even three, if the coyote is also traded as a wolf.
On the one hand there is the same type as the Northwestern, which is therefore usually sorted into the Northwestern assortments by the trade.
In addition, the western wolf or also known in the trade as "prairie wolf". The fur is yellowish gray instead of the usual bluish color. The awn is soft. There are two different types of mane, the usual crescent-shaped and a wedge-shaped, which ends with the tip in the middle of the fur towards the rear of the trunk. Since the manes are usually completely cut out during processing into jackets or coats, the resulting loss of usable fur can occasionally be around 20 percent.

The quality classes are, like other fur types, first (ones), second (twos), third (threes) and fourth (fours), they are based on the first-class or less good coat condition. A lace fur is absolutely clean and has a light, soft and supple layer of fat. A less good coat is either from an early catch, with a bluish tinge on the leather, or a late catch, in which case it is very brittle and the fat layer is hard and dried out. The pelts from early catches are preferred to those obtained towards the end of the season, the hair is thicker and gives the awn a better stand, even if it is perhaps neither fully grown nor as lush as with the first quality. The fur caught late has less undercoat, so that the fully developed and quite coarse awns do not stand and lie flat. The third class, which includes a large part of the skins, includes all those in which the skin cannot be fully used: skins with offspring, slightly hairy and anything that is so badly rubbed and bald that it is not possible to repair it.

Wolfskin with feathers, talisman of the Nez Perce Indians (1875–1885)

As with other dogs, the hair from the spring hair change period is often worn in places. Can the damage from the furriers not by simply repairing ( dawned be corrected), they are classified as rubbed rubbed (rubbed) or strong (badly rubbed). Mainly during the time of the coat change, the appearance of the head changes, they become increasingly bald. Since fur material is also lost here, they are classified as "bad heads" one or two quality classes lower.

Size comparison in wolf skins
Sizes nature Commercial custom raw fur
(open or peeled off round) *
XL L. M. S.
Timberwolf 93 silky open
74
Western Canada 69 65 56 52 silky round
Northwestern US 67 63 55 52 medium-silky round
Western US 65 59 54 51 medium-coarse open and round
Southwestern US 57 51 47 41 rough open, some round
* In 1936, meanwhile probably generally closed (around) withdrawn.

In 1911, tobacco merchant Brass wrote of "Churchill wolves" found in the barren ground near the Hudson Bay Post Fort Churchill : " They are the largest wolves there are, and the fur reaches a length of 7 feet. The hair is almost pure white, very long, dense and silky. Such a fur had a value of 60 shillings, but in the past only a few hundred came on the market, now only about 5 to 10 pieces, which are paid for with fancy prices . "

Chinese wolves come from northern China and Mongolia . The coat quality is rated as "not particularly". They are light yellow and very woolly. If they are not used for local needs, they are mainly suitable for rugs (1952).

Numbers and facts*

(* Older quantities can no longer include pelts traded as wolves. In general, separate numbers only exist for the 20th century. Before that, no distinction was made between wolves and coyotes, and a subsequent breakdown is not possible. It is still the same today Exact assignment, especially in the case of the skins of younger wolves, is sometimes not easy, but essential for determining the export license.)
  • 18th century - Russia
At the time when the natural economy still largely prevailed in Russia , the tribute was delivered in skins and the warehouses were temporarily overcrowded, which drove the price down. The different values ​​of the individual types of fur in intra-Russian trade, shown here on the budget of the Russian Ambassador Weljeminoff in Vienna:
                 Stück   Wert je Fell                       Stück   Wert je Fell
Feh            337.234     0,02 Rubel      Biber            3.000     0,97 Rubel
Marder          20.040     0,26 Rubel      Wölfe            1.000     0,53 Rubel
Zobel           40.360     0,70 Rubel      Silberfüchse       120     4,70 Rubel
  • In 1911 , Brass estimated the export of wolf skins from China (or only from Manchuria?) To a maximum of 1,000 pieces per year. Most of the skins remained in the country, as the price there was often higher than on the world market. At the time it was around 8 to 10 marks. P. 444
In various states of the USA at the time the premium for wolf scalps had been increased to 15 dollars, the fur had an additional value of 4 to 5 dollars. Even so, hardly more than 5,000 skins were sold every year
  • Before 1944 the maximum price for wolf skins was: the finest 100.00; good blue RM 75; bright 50 RM.
  • Between 1958 and 1968 the annual hunting range of wolves in the Mongolian People's Republic was constant at around 4,000 specimens (between 3469 and 4112). Although the state paid a premium for every animal hunted, there appeared to be no substantial decrease in the numbers.
  • In 1971 , an estimated census in the Soviet Union showed a population of 100,000 to 120,000 wolves. Every year around 30,000 skins were sold, despite this yield the stocks did not decrease.
  • 1983/84 , in this season the number of wolf skins for Canada was 3536 and 729 for the USA. The average price of 2153 pelts caught by Canadian trappers was $ 38.14 (in addition to those listed as "Hunter" and "Undifferentiated").
  • In 1987 no exact figures were known about the world attack. At the time, around 7,000 pelts were being sold from North America, around half from Canada. In 1987 the Russian auction offer was 3,700 skins.

Web links

Commons : Wolfskins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Clothing made from wolf and coyote skins  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Wolf and Coyote Skin Processing  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
Commons : Promotion of wolf and coyote pelts  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Wolf's fur  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

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 most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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
  2. ↑ 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)).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ´s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, pp. 125–127.
  4. ↑ a b c Fritz Schmidt : The book of the fur animals and fur . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970, pp. 214-217.
  5. ^ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation - Wisia-Online, WISIA Scientific information system for international species protection.
  6. ↑ Herodotus: Historien Volume IV, p. 105.
  7. ↑ Torgrim Titlestad: Slaget i Hafrsfjord. Årsak, Hendelse and Virkning. Om Norges Tilblivelse . Saga bok, Stavanger 2006, ISBN 82-91640-25-4 .
  8. ↑ a b The Kirschner . In: JS Halle: Workshops for today's arts , Berlin 1762, see p. 310 .
  9. ↑ Heinrich Hanicke: Handbook for furrier . Published by Alexander Duncker , Leipzig 1895, p. 88
  10. ↑ Adelung: Grammatical-Critical Dictionary of High German Dialect , Volume 4. Leipzig 1801, p. 1547 here online .
  11. ↑ Paul Larisch , Josef Schmid: The furrier craft . 1st year No. 2, III. Part, self-published, Paris November 1902, p. 51.
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g Max Bachrach: Fur. A Practical Treatise. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York 1936. pp. 226-234 (English).
  13. ↑ Thomas Hoepker: Gunter Sachs in Fur Coat, 1966 . In The Red List - War Reporting and Photojournalism , last accessed December 15, 2013.
  14. ↑ Terence Ruttle: How to grade furs . Canada Department of Agriculture, publication 1362, Ottawa 1968, p. 41 (English).
  15. ↑ http://tierdoku.com/index.php?title=Timberwolf
  16. ↑ a b c Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 1st edition, published by the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, pp. 439–445.
  17. ↑ Richard König : An interesting lecture (report on the trade in Chinese, Mongolian, Manchurian and Japanese tobacco products). In: Die Pelzwirtschaft No. 47, 1952, p. 52.
  18. ^ A b Milan Novak et al., Ministry of Natural Resources: Furbearer Harvests in North America, 1600-1984 , Supplement to Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America . Ontario 1987, pp. 60, 253 (English). ISBN 0-7729-3564-5 .
  19. ^ Paul Schöps: Securing the fur yield in the Soviet Union . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Jg. XXI New Part No. 5/6 1973, Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, p. 37
  20. ^ Friedrich Malm, August Dietzsch: The art of the furrier. Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1951, p. 74.
  21. ↑ N. Dawaa, M. Not, G. Schünzel: About the fur animals of the Mongolian People's Republic . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Neue Episode, vol. XXI No. 1, 1971, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 8, 12
  22. ^ FF Aliew: Fur animal populations in the wild . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Jg. XX New Series No. 6, 1971, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, p. 14