William André Elfer

“ Like all other industries, the business 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 ”

“ 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 [Pg 22] stocked, all expense is about over if there is a large-enough pond in it to supply the minks with sufficient food. ”

“ 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. Minks are the most valuable fur-bearing animals in Louisiana, being the most numerous, and they are also the easiest and most profitable to breed for their fur. ”

“ Every trapper procures a hunting license whether he carries a gun or not, and most [Pg 18] 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 experienced 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. ”

“ 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 [Pg 54] 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. ”

“ While laws are being adopted by different States for the regulation of trapping to protect fur-bearing animals, it is time for those who expect to make money with fur in the future to begin raising their own animals. ”

“ 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 eating 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. ”

“ 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 because of its scarcity. ”

“ 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 before any minks are turned loose in a farm. They will ordinarily jump to a height of four feet. They can climb wooden walls as swiftly as a cat, or any wall made of soft material. ”