Story on Muskrat Trapping

[Barleywine]

Most fly tyers appreciate a good patch of muskrat fur. I thought this was an interesting story in today's Record:

Muskrat love lingers on in the Meadowlands despite fewer critters - NorthJersey.com

A very good story about muskrat trappers, the declining muskrat population in NJ, and how trapping was and still is an important part of life for many people.

Seemed like a fair reporting that didn't depict the trappers as wildlife criminals.

And it was surprisingly on page 1 of the Sunday paper!

 

[madison]

Hey man,
Great read! I grew up with lots of trappers as friends in high school, and the one thing I remember most was the smell of skinned raccoon.
That was some stinky shit! Kind of like really stinky rotten cheese.
Mads

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

I never had chapped hands in winter when I trapped. It was due to all the fat that was fleshed off those raccoons after skinning and before going on the stretchers.

 

[narcodog]

I trapped when I was a kid the worst stinkin thing was a posum

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

..........and the hardest to skin without poking a hole in that thin skin.