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Breeding Minks in
PLauisiana

Pe Ror eee Aas

A Profitable Industry
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WILLIAM ANDRE ELFER

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FOR SAL By Ee

See oue e Sra S Ree

611 CANAL ST., NEW ORLEANS, LA.

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Press of J. G. Hauser

“The Legal! Printer’

620-622 Poydras St.
New Orleans

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COPYRIGHTED

BY

We Ss lle le l= le

19099

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246165

SEP 1 1909

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TH little volume is issued in 1l-
——! lustration of the feasibility of

breeding minks in Louisiana for
their fur. It is the result of experi-
ments conducted by the author himself,
and he feels that it should be of interest
to many and of value to the few who
are looking for fields for profitable in-
vestment. It is the author's aim to
issue a more elaborate work on the same
subject sometime during the ely part

of next year. We ALE.

A Louisiana Mink. Notice the Small Eyes, and the Low,
Rounded Ears, Scarcely Projecting Beyond
the Adjacent Fur.

Fi OR the following description of
the American mink | am in-
debted to the Encyclopzedia

Britannica:

“In size it much resembles the English
polecat—the length of the head and body being
usually from fifteen to eighteen inches; that of
the tail to the end of the hair about nine inches.
The female is considerably smaller than the
male. The tail is bushy, but tapering at the
end. The ears are small, low, rounded, and
scarcely project beyond the adjacent fur. The
pelage consists of a dense, soft, matted under-
fur, mixed with long, stiff, lustrous hairs on all
parts of the body and tail. The gloss is great-
est on the upper parts; on the tail the bristly
hairs predominate. Northern specimens have

the finest and most glistening pelage; in those

Page seven

from the southern regions there is less differ-
ence between the under- and over-fur, and the
whole pelage is coarser and harsher. In color,
different specimens present a_ considerable
range of variation, but the animal is ordinarily
of a rich, dark brown, scarcely or not paler be-
low than on the general upper parts ; but the
back is usually the darkest, and the tail is near-
ly black, The under jaw, from the chin about
as far back as the angle of the mouth, is gener-
ally white. In the European mink the upper
lip is also white, but, as this occasionally occurs
in American specimens, it fails as an absolutely
distinguishing character. Besides the white on
the chin, there are often other irregular white
patches on the under parts of the body. In very
rare instances the tail is tipped with white. The
fur, like that of most of the animals of the group to
which it belongs, is an important article of

”
commerce.

Page eight

C HE fur market has always been a
good market. It has grown
firmer and stronger from year to

year, while the prices for furs have been
advancing steadily and rapidly with the
growing demand for furs in Europe and
America, and with the general increas-
ing scarcity of all fur-bearing animals.
Mink fur advanced about fifty per cent.
during the last two seasons, and there 1s
every reason to believe that the mink
fur in Louisiana will advance to about
six dollars within the coming three
years. The minks caught in Louisiana
last season were sold at an average

price of three dollars.

page nine

Resting in a Warm Place. Notice the Long Body and Its Shape.

# UR-BEARING animals are be-

——' coming scarce where they were
once so plentiful, and, like the
buffaloes that roamed this country in
such great numbers, they will soon,
many of them, become extinct if
the present rate of trapping con-
tinues to obtain in America. Already
certain fur animals are almost trapped
out and are rare. Even the alligator,
which was so plentiful a few years ago
in the swamps of Louisiana, is hardly
sought after any more for its hide be-
cause of its scarcity.
The laws enacted by the various

State legislatures for the protection of

page thirteen

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In a Position to Jump. Notice the Long Tail.

fur-bearing animals, in fact, offer no pro-
tection; for most furs caught out of sea-
son have no market value, and for that
reason are not caught.

In Louisiana a trapper has to procure
a hunting license if he wishes to carry a
gun while trapping, which license costs
only one dollar and is good for one sea-
son only. Such a low license, while it
may bring a large revenue to the State, |
clearly has no element of protection in
it. On the contrary, it is a truth that it
stimulates both hunting and trapping, as
there were more trappers in Louisiana
last season than before the law requiring
this license came into effect. Every
trapper procures a hunting license whe-

ther he carries a gun or not, and most

page seventeen

trappers believe the law requires them
to have this license to trap.

Whatever is being done for the
protection of fur-bearing animals in
Louisiana, the fact remains that they
are fast disappearing. Old and expe-
rienced trappers will tell you that minks
were very difficult to trap last season as
compared with the seasons of a few
years ago, when they could be so easily
trapped in dead-falls. Raccoons, too,
which were so numerous in the rear of
old cornfields during the trapping sea-
sons, have diminished at a surprising
rate within the last three years.

While laws are being adopted by
different States for the regulation of

trapping to protect fur-bearing animals,

page eighteen

A Female of Two Years.

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P sae x

it is time for those who expect to make
money with fur in the future to begin
raising their own animals. ‘The time is
almost here when trapping will be
unprofitable. Fur animals will be too
scarce to make anything at it. Then
people will have to build farms in which
to breed minks for their fur, and mink
farms will become common. Miunks are
the most valuable fur-bearing animals in
Louisiana, being the most numerous, and
they are also the easiest and most profit-
able to breed for their fur.

Breeding minks in Louisiana for
their fur can be made a very profitable
industry. There is more to be made at
it than raising horses, hogs or cattle.

After a farm is once completed and

page twenty-one

stocked, all expense is about over if
there is a large-enough pond in it to
supply the minks with sufficient food.
Under the present condition of the fur
market, each female will average a profit
of forty dollars a year. A farm stocked
for the first time during the winter with
five hundred female minks should bring
its owner the following winter approxi-
mately twenty thousand dollars. This
is figured at three dollars a fur; but
within three years the mink fur in
ee onl selling for what
the mink fur in the North sold last
season. With this increase in the price
of fur, a farm stocked with the same

number should bring forty thousand
dollars.

page twenty-two

The Fur During the Summer Is Very Poor, and Not So Dark as It
Is During the Winter.

Minks require little room, and
thousands can be raised each year on
a farm of ten acres. The larger the
farm, however, the better chances they
will have to procure food for themselves,
as birds will enter a large farm more
freely than a small one.

For this reason, in building a mink
farm the first and most important require-
ment is a good location. A small island
consisting of low land covered with trees
and grasses, with the opposite shore at
least three-quarters of a mile distant,
would make an excellent farm, provided
the surrounding water supplies an abun-
dance of small fishes. Such an island
would, of course, preclude the necessity

of using material for holding the minks

page twenty-five

An Excited Mink Trying to Climb.

in captivity. If a suitable island cannot
be found, a good farm can be made
with five or more acres of low swampy
land having a natural growth of trees,
grasses and underbrush, such as can be
found in Southern Louisiana. But the
‘piece of land selected for a farm must
inclose a large pond, or several small
ponds, containing a good quantity of
small fishes, especially crayfish. The
trees and grasses will attract birds,
which, in addition to fish and rabbits,
form a large part of food for the
minks.

Feeding minks is pretty costly, and
is hardly to be considered by one enter-
ing the business of breeding them for

their fur.

page twenty-nine

The walls surrounding a mink farm
can be made either with bricks or with
sheets of corrugated, galvanized iron.
The latter material makes an excellent
wall, and costs less than a brick wall.
It should be used in sheets measuring
twelve feet in length by about twenty-
six inches in width. These sheets
should be used in an upright position,
and at least five feet should be under-
ground and seven feet aboveground.
They should be allowed to lap two
inches, and the dirt should be firmly
packed against them. Iwo rows of
wooden strips nailed on the outside of
the wall, one about two feet above the
ground, and the other along the top
edge of the sheets, will greatly strengthen

page thirty

A Young Female Mink Walking Along the Walls of a
Small Farm.

ee

the wall and also prevent the wind from
shaking it.

The following photograph shows a
small pentagonal farm, the walls of
which are made with sheets of corru-
gated, galvanized iron. Fach side
measures sixteen feet in length, extend-
ing four feet underground and four feet
aboveground. Wire netting is used to
cover the farm, not to prevent the minks
from jumping over, although the walls
are too low, but to prevent chickens,
cats and buzzards from entering and eat-
ing the food put in for the minks. A
wooden shed also covers a part of the
small farm and serves to keep out some
of the rain and heat, there being no

shrubs or trees therein. There are two

Page thirty-three

a TN eS

small troughs in the ground for holding
water, and in the center of the farm
there is a place for the minks to live
during the day, which consists of boards
laid five inches above the surface of the
ground with about fourteen inches of
dirt on top. Under these boards it is
dark during the day and always damp
and cool. ‘There are also several bar-
rels in this farm filled with corn shucks
and hay for the minks to enter during
cold weather. The minks in this little
farm are fed with the spleen of cattle,
different meats, crayfish and other small
fishes. The cost of this farm, or pen,
which has been used for experimental
purposes only, amounts to approxi-

mately forty-two dollars. It is large

page thirty-seven

‘eq, 94} Buling s9puy) earqT 0} symp] Oy} 407 doy, uo JIG] YUAA Spseog Suimoys ‘mue y [EWG jo 4O1I9JUT JO JIB

enough to raise two hundred minks if
they are properly fed and cared for.
Sometimes an island can be used
for a farm even when it has opposite
shores or islands within two hundred
feet or less, provided the water surround-
ing it has an average depth of from four
to six feet. In such a case, the walls
inclosing the island should be built in
the water at a distance of fifty or one
hundred feet from its shores. Sheets of
metal should be used, as previously
described, by placing them upmnght in
the water and nailing them together
with strips running along the outside.
It is not essential that the lower wall
should be in the ground or even touch-

ing it; posts can be driven in the ground

page forty-one

poe 772A0e Of sheel Corragaled
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A Mink Farm Made Out of an Island. The Water Surrounding Has
a Uniform Depth of Five Feet.

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to strengthen the wall, or to support it
entirely.

In a small farm where minks are in
close captivity and have to be fed, the
old ones used for the purpose of stocking
it will at first do considerable digging
near the walls. They will dig into
loose earth to a depth ranging from a
few inches to three feet in their attempts
to liberate themselves. But they will
cease to dig after they have been in
captivity for about four months. ‘Those
born in a farm will not dig or try to get
out. They will climb, however, to a
height of fifteen feet on reclining trees
or on bushes, and for this reason all
trees, bushes and pieces of lumber should

be removed from the inside of the walls

page forty-five

Disturbed in Her Sleep. Notice the Bushy Tail.

before any minks are turned loose in a
farm. ‘hey will ordinarily jump to a
height of four feet. They can climb
wooden walls as swiltly as a Cat, or any
wall made of soft material.

The following sketch shows the very
best mink farm that can be made. It
requires a rectangular piece of land of
five or ten acres, running along and
separated by a large bayou in the
swamps of Louisiana. Covering this
land there should be the necessary
trees, shrubbery and grasses. The walls
are built along the bayou about one
hundred feet from the middle, and
extend underground to a depth of six
feet. The walls at the ends of the

farm where they cross the bayou should

Page forty-nine

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A Mink Farm Inclosing Portion of a Bayou, Allowing the
Water to Flow Through.

be very carefully constructed. At these
places where the walls cross the bayou
should have a depth of at least twelve
feet or more, so that the walls can be
made to extend nine feet below the
water surface for one-third the width of
the stream and still have sufficient open-
ings below the walls to permit the water
to flow through freely. For example,
if the bayou is fifty feet wide, fifteen
feet of the wall crossing it can be ele-
vated so that there will be a large-
enough opening below for the water to
flow. The remaining portion of the
wall (that lying near the shore) should
be driven in the ground for about one
foot, as minks will not dig under water.

A farm of five acres, similar to the one

page fifty-three

just described, would cost, completed,
approximately eight hundred dollars.
The minks in such a farm, owing to the
continuous change of water in the bayou,
would always have an abundance of
food. The banks of the bayou would
afford a natural breeding-place, as minks
usually burrow in the banks of small
streams or along canals and have their |
young near the water. If the water in
the bayou falls, wire netting could be
used over the opening at the ends below
the walls.

“Minks eat birds, small mammals and eggs.
The principal food of minks comes from water,
fish, frogs, crayfish. —J/nternational Encyclo-
peedia.

page fifty-four

An Angry Mink.

The minks | have been experiment-
ing with have persistently refused to eat
frogs. [penned one up separately and
attempted to feed her on frogs only, and
I believe she would have starved rather |
than eat frogs.

Mainks can be raised in any kind of
pen or cage, and water is not essential
to their happiness, They are easily
tamed and like to be petted.

page fifty-seven

Habits of the Mink in
Luauisiana

ae

BINS in Louisiana have two

litters a season, the number of
young in each brood varying from four
to eight. Sometimes, however, but very
rarely, there will be only two in a brood,

and almost as infrequently, on the other

hand, there will be three litters a season
instead of two. Captive animals breed
more profusely than the wild, and will
occasionally have three litters where
they are in close captivity. [hey begin

to breed when they are about one year

page fifty-nine

old, and in captivity will raise an aver-
age of fourteen a year. Normally, they
live to be about nine years old, but they
will live longer in captivity where they
are well treated and given all the water
and the different foods required by
them.

Like all other industries, the busi-
ness of breeding minks for their fur
necessitates an outlay of capital. A
farm cannot be built without money,
and the cost of one sufficiently large to
breed minks profitably ranges from five
hundred to a thousand dollars. Of
course, a farm can be made any size and
costing any amount of money ; but large

farms are not necessary, and it is much

page sixty

A Female Mink Resting With Eyes Open.

better to have several small farms of six
or ten acres than one very large one.

After a farm is completed it has to
be stocked, and the task is no easy or
inexpensive one. ‘Trappers will have to
be employed to trap minks with No. |
steel traps, as these small traps do not
injure them very much unless they are
permitted to remain caught too long.
Those that have badly-broken bones
should not be bought, as suffering will
cause them to eat their leg off, in which
case they will always die.

The author intends to organize a
company styled the ‘“ Louisiana Mink
Company,’ the objects and purposes of
which shall be to build mink farms and
to breed minks in this State for their fur.

Page sixty-three

No matter what capital is involved,
or expense incurred, in entering into the
business of breeding: minks for their fur,
the returns will be so big that this will
appear small in comparison. And those
who are so fortunate as to start in the
industry now will, when minks will have
become so rare that trapping will be un-
profitable, and the demand so great that
the prices for mink fur will soar higher
and higher---those persons, | say, of fore-
sight, who had the good fortune to start
in the business early, will reap each year
the steady advances in the price of mink
fur, and be able, in a word, to command
the fur market of both Europe and

America.

page sixty-four

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