Patrick Whittle of the AP recently wrote a good article on Maine trapper Brian Cogill and the current state of the fur market.
Tall, husky, barrel-chested, with a bushy auburn beard and a rosy complexion, he tromps through the forest to check traps capable of killing an animal within five minutes. Stepping onto a frozen pond, he chips through 4 inches of ice, reaches into the icy water and pulls out a 45-pound beaver.
Five years ago, its pelt would have fetched $50. These days, it will likely yield half that.
Economic forces including market slowdowns in big fur-buying countries like Russia, China and South Korea, as well as a continuing trend toward distaste for fur as a result of animal welfare concerns, make Cogill among a dwindling number of trappers catching fur-bearing beasts in the wild.
“I love trapping, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not going to trap something for nothing,” Cogill said. “If there’s no market for it, I’d have to sit on it. There are warehouses full of fur right now, and no one buying.”
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