Critters for trapping to make fur felt?

[adamgottschalk]

Kooky question I know. Can you say fftopic: I'm working on a play. I'd like one of main characters to be a trapper, living in Montana, making a decent living trapping critters for a Chicago-based hat maker who makes his own fur felt and contracts the trapping to a few independent trappers. The hat maker's source for European fur raised its prices, so he decided to see if he couldn't get his hands on enough fur to make his own felt. Is the world fur market such that there's plenty of fur to buy easily if someone did want to make their own fur felt? Is it feasible at all that a small, custom hat maker could actually acquire his own fur by independent means to make felt with? What might be the main critters a trapper in Montana might catch? All of this, of course, is ignorantly assuming that you can't really "hunt" animals meant for furs, as you'd like to keep the coat intact? Any input at all appreciated. TIA

 

[PrettySquareGal]

fftopic: Can I play the part of the glamorous, mysterious lady that had a house full of liberated woodland furry creatures?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

What about beavers?

In Montana I imagine the beavers must get as big as cows. Provided there are any beavers in Montana and that one is allowed to trap them for their fur.
Barring that,.....hmmm, muskrats? Rabbits? Weasels? Mountain goats? [huh]

 

[Rick Blaine]

FROM TRAPS TO CAPS, THE MONTANA FUR TRADE...

http://www.his.state.mt.us/education/footlocker/FurTrading.pdf.

... sounds cool... keep us updated on yr. progress.

Regards,
Rick

 

[adamgottschalk]

http://www.his.state.mt.us/education/footlocker/FurTrading.pdf.

... sounds cool... keep us updated on yr. progress.

Regards,
Rick

That's perfect. Thanks so much for that link. Will do.

 

[adamgottschalk]

fftopic: Can I play the part of the glamorous, mysterious lady that had a house full of liberated woodland furry creatures?

As a long-time vegetarian, I would say Yes Definitely...but there are only 4 parts and I haven't made one for an animal liberator :kick: Who knows, though, with re-writes, anything could happen...

 

[adamgottschalk]

In Montana I imagine the beavers must get as big as cows. Provided there are any beavers in Montana and that one is allowed to trap them for their fur.
Barring that,.....hmmm, muskrats? Rabbits? Weasels? Mountain goats? [huh]

Right, exactly what I was thinking: are beavers still abundant (or abundant again?) in Montana, and, if so, is it legal to trap them and all that. I assume that .pdf of Montana trapping will have some of that info. I was also thinking rabbits; I know "hare" fur is very common in European fur-felt.

 

[mthatter]

erased by mt

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Beaver pelts.

Were the mainstay of the new world trade economy for several hundred years if I am not mistaken. The French voyageurs traded almost exclusively with the Indians for beaver fur as it was and is the #1 fur for hats. Highly water-proof and extremely soft. The demand was so great that beavers were almost trapped to extinction.
I would imagine that the next best thing would be muskrat or nutria, as they are both water dwelling animals with very fine, soft, water-resistant fur.

 

[adamgottschalk]

O.K. Adam,

Here in Montana...(snimp good infor).
And no it is quite impossible for a small hatter to produce his own hat bodies, one trip to the felt factory and you would understand why.

John
www.rockymountainhatcompany.com

Thank you for the informative post. So, the felt makers make the hat bodies for the small hat makers? Do some small makers buy bodies from the big guys (whatever that means)?

 

[mthatter]

erased by mt

 

[GA Wildlifer]

Beaver trapping

Adam,

John's information is great and with a hatter's perspective too. I am no expert but have trapped some. Depending on how much detail about trapping you need to include, you can get a wealth of information from the internet. http://www.beavers-beavers.com/beavers-management.htm
is one example. It is part of my job to give trapping and beaver management information and advice. I would be glad to provide any specifics that I can or to point you in the right direction.

Robert

 

[decodoll]

This is a bit fftopic: , but since we're talking about felt.... Does anyone know where to get flat fur felt skirting besides hatsupply.com? I like to use skirting for most of my hats, as it's a big waste of material to use hoods for most of the small perch hats I make. I'd love to find a place that has a larger range of colours or at least white so that I could dye it myself.

 

[Caledonia]

Adam,

John's information is great and with a hatter's perspective too. I am no expert but have trapped some. Depending on how much detail about trapping you need to include, you can get a wealth of information from the internet. http://www.beavers-beavers.com/beavers-management.htm
is one example. It is part of my job to give trapping and beaver management information and advice. I would be glad to provide any specifics that I can or to point you in the right direction.

Robert

This would be really useful as in Scotland there is a beaver reintroduction programme on going. Will search the sites and may come back to you if that's ok.