Muskrat love: North country trappers step up their game as prices for pelts rise

The shipping agent for Fur Harvesters Auction Inc., based at North Bay, Ontario, parked his box truck in the parking lot of Watertown's Northland Plaza on the first Sunday of this month. A passel of trappers soon swooped in with their pickup trucks, surrounding him as they brought out their offerings: a variety of furs ranging from deer to fox.

But these days, when it comes to bang for the buck, muskrat fur may be the best bet.

“They're easy to catch, they're not hard to fool, and there's lots of them,” said Andrew J. MacDuff, a senior wildlife biologist for the Department of Environmental Conservation. “They are kind of the bread-and-butter critter for trappers.”

Lately, some gravy has been added to that bread and butter.

“We are advising all trappers to start trapping muskrat the moment the season opens and target as many as possible,” Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. notes in its fur market forecast found on its website. “... demand is high now for rats and no stock is available.”

The traveling shipping agent, Toby Edwards, was picking up pelts for Fur Harvesters' March auction in Seattle, to be held in partnership with the American Legend fur auction house. The Saratoga County resident works part-time for Fur Harvesters. His Watertown stop was part of a three-day, approximately 1,000-mile trek around the state collecting furs. In the summer, Mr. Edwards runs a tent rental business.

“The fur market always cycles up and down,” he said as he packaged the furs the trappers had brought. “When the prices go up, you tend to get more people trapping stuff. I've seen the 'rats come up a couple, three times — up to the price range they are now.”

He said one thing pushing up the price of muskrat fur is the price of “ranch mink” — mink bred in captivity.

“That is up, so muskrat is a cheaper alternative,” he said. “As long as the ranch mink prices stay up, that should keep the muskrat prices up.”

Mr. Edwards said that at the beginning of last year, muskrat pelts were averaging $4 to $5 when sold by auction houses.

“Then they got up to $10 averages last year,” Mr. Edwards said.

“I've sold them for less than two bucks,” said trapper Glen Parkhurst of Oswego, who brought some furs to Mr. Edwards.

Purchases of muskrat pelts by the Chinese is another reason the prices are increasing.

“The Chinese are definitely buying most of the fur, although it's not getting consumed there,” Mr. Edwards said. “They are the ones manufacturing more of the coats now.”

Lots of the manufactured muskrat coats and hats end up in Russia.

“They are big fur consumers,” Mr. Edwards said. “And when the oil prices are up, they've got the money to buy fur. They buy fur not only for looks but to use, because it's so cold.”

The trappers who dropped off furs to Mr. Edwards were given a receipt.

“They get a check three weeks after the sale,” Mr. Edwards said. “The receipt is just to confirm what they shipped, and it insures the fur if anything happens to it from here on up. They will get a printout back on the grades of each pelt and what it sold for.”

Charles R. “Buzz” Devan of Watertown has been trapping muskrats for about 30 years. He said Fur Harvesters takes an 11 percent commission, but last year issued a rebate of about 4 percent to fur producers. “It was such a good year,” he said.

This year, Fur Harvesters will issue rebates of 4.5 percent.

Mr. Devan primarily canoes to trap muskrats at Perch River Wildlife Management Area, which spans the towns of Orleans and Pamelia, and the Upper and Lower Lakes State Wildlife Management Areas in Rensselaer Falls.

Last Sunday, Mr. Devan, a retired state DEC wildlife biologist, had 375 muskrat pelts bagged for Mr. Edwards. They were turned inside out, with the skins facing out, the way fur buyers prefer to purchase muskrat pelts, according to Mr. Edwards.

“He squeezes the 'rat like that in the back to judge its thickness,” Mr. Edwards said, handling one of the hides and demonstrating what a buyer will do. The buyer then pries open the inside-out hide for a peek at the fur.

“The muskrat is uniform from one end to the other,” Mr. Edwards said. “For example, on a marten, its color can vary. It can be one color up on its neck and the color changes on down.”

Mr. Devan said he traps mainly to enjoy nature.

“I do it every year no matter what the price is,” he said. “I like going out.”

He said cattail marshes are the best trapping spots for muskrats.

“The cattail root is one of their major foods,” Mr. Devan said. “They go down and dig them up.”

The muskrat trapping season in Northern New York runs from Oct. 25 to April 15. There is no bag limit.

“Trapping tends to self-regulate for a lot of species,” Mr. MacDuff , the DEC biologist, said.

After reviewing some survey results done by trappers, Mr. MacDuff said statewide harvest of muskrats swing between 84,000 and 214,000. No breakdown is done by region.

“It's often weather-dictated or, often, things like fuel prices will fall into it,” Mr. MacDuff said.

In the past few years, about 12,000 trapping licenses have been sold statewide, he said.

“That's been a slight increase in the past few years,” Mr. MacDuff said. “It may be a sign of a little bit stronger fur market, or for some unknown reason, but I suspect it's the fur market.”

Some trappers noticed fewer muskrats last season.

“There hasn't been a lot of muskrats caught,” said Jack W. Gray, owner of Gray's Gunshop in Lisbon, a drop-off point for Fur Harvesters. “I think the population around this area has been down. It was a dry summer.”

“Populations are so-so,” said Mr. Devan. “Most of the trappers, from what I've heard, are saying 'rats are down. There's not a lot of 'rats in some of the marshes.”

Mr. Gray said he anticipates the price of muskrat hides will stay high in the near future. But he warned about a muskrat pelt bubble. It's been a mild winter in Europe, which could decrease demand.

“The market could drop,” Mr. Gray said. “I've seen that happen from one sale to the next where the bottom drops right out, like the stock market has done in recent years.”