The Slow Resurgence of the Canadian Fur Trade
Upon my return to the family farm this past Christmas, I was able to participate in an activity more suited to Canada’s yesteryear, namely the skinning of a freshly snared coyote from my brother’s trapline. The vast majority of Canadians would be unfamiliar with the practice that was once commonplace amongst the Courier de bois, the Nor’Westers, and the Indigenous Peoples selling their wares to the Hudson Bay Company. Most people probably do not realize that Canada would have been shaped differently had it not been for five main fur companies and the European demand for beaver felt hats driving the exploration of the West.
The mechanics of skinning a fur bearing animal have basically remained unchanged for millennia. As with most other activities nowadays, there are even YouTube skinning how-to videos of the process. The tricky parts are using a sharp knife, being careful to not put nicks in the hide as these will need sewing later, and being prepared to put some elbow grease into pulling the hide off. If the animal was well fed with plenty of fat stores, then a pulling bar and lots of grunting will be needed. If you’ve got a bush rabbit or partridge near the end of a harsh winter, then those skins will slip off with minimal effort. As an aside, in the event of a survival situation, due to the leaness of rabbits you cannot use them as your sole food source as it is harmful to ingest too little fat. But my brother’s coyote had not been eating skinny rabbits as it was the size of a small wolf and it took a lot of grunting to finally pull the skin off.
Once the hide is off the animal, it needs to be mechanically fleshed whereupon the extra fat or meat is stripped from the hide. It is then washed inside and out, any nicks are sewn up, then it is placed on a stretching board to dry. The trick with the board is to refrain from over-stretching the animal. Also at this time, the cartilage from the ears is removed and my brother tries to pin them and the rest of the hide in a natural position as it dries. After drying, the pelt is brushed and fluffed then hung in a cool, dry area free of bugs or other pests. The buyers at auction look for any excuse to knock down the value of the pelts so my brother puts a lot of painstaking effort into producing a quality product.
The vast majority (95%) of the world’s wild and farmed furs end up at one of five main fur auction centers in the world: Kopenhagen Fur (Denmark), Finnish Fur Sales (Finland), NAFA (Canada), American Legend (USA) and Sojuzpushnina (Russia). Last year, my brother made a few thousand dollars from his 30 mile trapline selling his coyote, marten, fisher, badger, weasel, fox, and squirrel pelts at the Finnish auction. For him, it’s a hobby that pays for itself. For the 50,000 active Canadian trappers (25,000 Aboriginal peoples), 289 registered fur farms, and 316 directly related businesses, the fur industry generates in the range of half a billion dollars of GDP per year. (2012-13 statistics) Trapping and pelting animals has been a way of life for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Even fur farming has a long history with the first mink farm started in Ontario in 1866. Then in the 1890s, there was somewhat of a ‘Gold Rush’ to farm Silver Fox in PEI.
Speaking of that Big Red Sandbar, one of my tasks in Base Operations at CFB Summerside in 1989 was to map all the fox farms on the island in order for our pilots to know what areas to avoid. The vixens would kill their kits if startled by a loud noise such as a low flying aircraft. The farmers were wily though as whenever an animal would die, they would toss the carcass into a freezer and give the base a call with the tally of dead animals if one of our aircraft came close. As we were attempting to save a few dollars of the Queen’s budget, we would determine if the farmer was fibbing or not. Today, there are plenty of wild foxes on the Great Red Mud but the farms have disappeared.
In Canada today, mink (@85%), fox, and a few chinchilla are farmed for their pelts. Of the close to 3 million mink pelts produced per year, the provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia split the amounts almost evenly. Click the following link for an excellent video on how the Nova Scotia Agricultural College runs their mink farm. It is very informative on why the industry is sustainable, profitable, a good neighbor and humanely run despite their many detractors. Government and industry have worked together for decades to regulate, enforce and put together best practices in order to run the industry, wild and farmed, correctly.
But if you had to name one Canadian pelt industry that has taken the most hakapits to the head from dissenters, it would be the Seal hunt. Outfits like the Canadian Sealers Association and the Seals and Sealing Network are attempting to counter the efforts of busy body celebrities who perennially stage flashy protests over Canada’s annual seal hunt. Misinformed and slanderous persons such as Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson make splashy appearances and use graphic video to slag the hunters and the fishery. But if you read through the Canadian Fisheries and Ocean site regarding Seals and Sealing, it is reported that populations such as the Harp Seal are in the millions. As the landed catch for 2016 was only 66,800 Harp Seals and 1,812 Grey Seals, the only two types allowed to be hunted, this is hardly a case for grave concern. Here is a good link to dispel the omnipresent myths Sir Paul and Big Boobed Pam would like you to believe.
Canada had its roots with the fur trade and it continues to remain a vital part of life and source of income for thousands of Canadians. But the industry definitely has its critics in today’s Politically Correct world. This probably has much to do with a century’s worth of ‘Cuddlefying’ all animals to represent a Disney-washed version of Nature’s flora and fauna. This is why the internet blows up over the death of a gorilla or a dentist posing with a dead African lion. The vast majority of Westerners would not have the first clue as to how to hunt let alone skin and dress an animal, wild or domestic. We are removed many times over from activities that were commonplace to our ancestors. CBC released a 2016 documentary entitled ‘Angry Inuk’ detailing how celebrities and environmentalist outfits should just keep their noses out of their lives. Indigenous people, trappers and farmers do not care if you buy or wear their products as that is everyone’s personal choice. But they do take umbrage with know-nothing Hollywood stars jetting around trying to destroy millennia old lifestyles.
Besides, who is living to excess more when placed side by side, an outspoken environmental critic such as Leonardo DiCaprio with his lavish lifestyle or the Inuit communities who are just trying to survive?
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.