• • --:"""-·-• -.,....-•- '"''i"$.. • • •• • ~-~ , • • • • • ""~ • • • • • • • • • ' c;'·"' • ""-"'""• • • • . -«_ • • • •• • • • • •• • • • ag • • <• • bi· ' 10. • • ' • YO· • 3 th VOLUME OCTOBER 15, 1944 NUMBER 10 • . nnua • th ow a ans en s1ve 194. ur earers • war onservat1on ro ram ..... oon to • ar Soon thousand of Iowans will T lf- DU - 1111 - •u- ••- ••- 11• - ••-••- ••- ••- ••- ••-••- ••- u•-••-••- 11•- ••- a• - ••- n•-••- + be scouring the fields, streams, I th ! . i Director Schwob · · tre- and marshes for fur bearer signs, Strip Tease i and the annual fur harvest will II : be under way. Last year the ef­ . I Makes Report to forts of our trappers resulted in j Eternity was just a pup = 979,315 pelts reaching the nation's j When nature pulled the curtain up. ! Commission fur markets. : Cave man, Persian, Greek and Roman ! ! Knew her as a master showman; j By F. T. SCHWOB, Director, Not only does Iowa produce • c furs numbering into the millions, ! Paul Revere and Bonaparte j State Conservation Commission but contrary to popular belief, j Marveled at her cosmic art; • (Editor' s Note: The following is from our furs are of the highest qual­ = And the lady has a way ! Director Schwob's report to the Commit­ ity. Especially is this true of =1 With her audience today. ! tee on Conservation of Resources of the muskrat, which in numbers and ! Strip-tease connoisseurs will please j Iowa Postwar Rehabilitation Commission, dollar value exceeds all other i Take a seat among the trees; j August 7, 1944, at the Statehouse in Des j Nature now presents October, ~ fo pelts. Moines. The report parallels and aug­ j The world's most colorful disrober. ments the wi I d I ife and recreational pro­ dur To those poor unfortunates who ! • - Ogden Nash, in The Forest Log . I gram advocated in the Twenty-five Year have never experienced the thrill • • of "stringing steel", the hard­ 1 . i Conservation Plan adopted in 1934 and ships and physical punishment + -•a- ID- 11- III- IID-11- III-III-IIII-III-IIII-III-IU-IIU-III-111-IIU- IIII - 111-aii-111-11- UII_:II+ being carried out under the direction of that the trapper endures even in the State Conservation Commission. these days of television and air­ • Other major reports on conservation to planes seem a little on the nutty e ersat1 e usquas the Rehabilitation Commission at th'is side. Be that as it may, trappers meeting included: soil conservation, by as a group are the most impatient • Clyde Spry, Assistant Secretary of Agri­ of all the outdoor enthusiasts for culture, and Frank Mendell, Director of es a e ecta e IS the Soil Conservation Service in Iowa; and their season to open so that they I public health and sanitation, by A. H. can test wits with the fur bearers By ANNA MARGRETHE OLSEN says, "There is a little beast I and match their ruggedness called a mushquash their cods Wieters, Director of Sanitation and Pub ­ against the weather, fatigue, and Small aquatic fur-bearing mam- scent as sweet and strong as lic Health Engineering, State Department I of Health.) pneumonia bugs. mals called muskrats, musquash, musk." In Carver's Travels in· - Ask any trapper what about or any of its closely related Al­ (1778), one reads, "The musquash the game most interests him, and gonquian derivatives, have played or muskrat is so termed for the Soil and water conservation is he promptly replies, "The fur a significant part in the life and the fundamental basis upon which ar exquisite musk which it affords." check," and undoubtedly profit is development of North America. The very early recognition of the our wildlife and recreational pro­ thl the impelling motive without Histories, as well as the litera­ grams must depend for success. and economic value of the musk and few of the fur animals ture of this country from the days fur is a matter of record. Silke­ The future of agriculture, indus­ would be trapped, even though of the Colonists to the present wormes' Observations (1620) con­ try in fact, our entire economic quite a number of them are edi- time, contain numerous refer­ and social structure can survive ol tain the following: "Muske-rats ble. But in addition to financial ences to both musquash and mus­ skins, two shillings a dozen; the and prosper only: if we conserve be de· our soil and water resources. It rewards, which in the case of rat, used interchangeably, and cods of them will serue for good • com some professional Iowa trappers frequently together. As early as perfumes." And again one finds i!:' important that, at the close of the present conflict, conservation regu· total three or four or more thou- 1616 Smith in his history of Vir­ in Lawson's History of Carolina of natural resources be recog­ cart sand dollars annually, every fol- ginia called these mammals (1714), "Musk rats frequent fresh nized as the most important prob­ erner lower of the trap line experiences "mussascus or muskats", and de­ streams and no others; as the lem facing the American people. all the thrills and healthful recre- scribed them as "beasts of the bever does. He has a cod of ation common to the sports of ·forme and nature of our water As we study the complexities musk which is valuable as is like­ of providing outdoor recreation, ar hunting and fishing. rats, but many smell exceedingly wise his fur." In Alsop's Mary- tore 1n The fur take during the past strongly of muske". Another we find that to obtain maximum <Continued to Page 75, Column 4) early historian, Jossetlyn (1672), (Continued to Page 74, Column 1) (Continued to Page 75, Column 1) PAGE SEVENTY-FOUR IOW A CONSERVATION 1ST Iowa Conservationist was around $385,966.00. For an Nor do they scorn animal foods kets in the larger cities. The de­ interesting and informative ac­ such as slowly moving fish, tur­ Publish ed Monthly by mand for them during the trap­ count of the daily life and habits tles, mussels and crabs. THE IOWA STATE CONSERVATION ping season, which extends usu­ of the musquash or muskrats, also ally from November to April, COMMISSION as to how they are trapped, read The Musquash Has Been And Is lOth & Mulberry-Des Moines, Iowa Used as A Food frequently exceeds the supply. the article in the Iowa Conser­ They are. sold as marsh rabbits; JAMES R. HARLAN, Editor vationist for October 15, 1943, on The flesh of the musquash or LOIS AMES, Associate Editor however, no attempt is made to "Under-Ice Trapping for Musk­ muskrat was eaten and relished conceal the fact that they are F. T. SCHWOB. Dire .'Or rats, Most Valuable Fur-Bearing by the Indians and early trap­ muskrats. F eatured at church (No Rights Reserved) pers and woodsmen. Colonists Animal", by F rank Tellier and dinn~rs and banquets for various Glen Yates, conservation officers. soon learned to cook them with organizations and clubs, the mus­ M EMBERS OF THE COMM ISSION Musquash Versus Muskrat as corn, Indian style, eat them and quash has become khow:n to many F. J. POYN EER, Cedar Rapids Chairman like them. Roasting them over A Food and is bought and eaten by all J. D. LOWE . Algona the glowing coals of campfires classes of people in these states. F. W. MATTES . Odebolt The following adage, "Certain was one of the most popular As the musquash are trapped for MRS. ADDISON PARKER . Des Moines names always awake certain methods of preparation u sed by their fur, the meat can be pre­ E. B. GAUNITZ . ...... Lansing prejudices", applies, beyond professional trappers, hunters and pared for the market with little R. E. ST EWA RT . .... .. .. Ottumwa doubt, to the name muskrat in voyageurs. In Thoreau's Maine additional labor and, therefore, G. F. LARSEN . .... .. ..... Council Bluffs any effort made to reestablish Woods (1848), one learns that the sold cheaply. the use of the flesh of this ani­ "musquash are their principal CIR CULATION THIS ISSUE ... .. 22,975 Musquash As Food in Iowa Subscription Rate .......... 40c per year mal as a food. The fact that the food on these expeditions". Dried Subscriptions received at Conservat ion musquash or muskrats belong to musquash meat was used for win­ Iowa has a wealth of wildlife, Com mission, lOth and Mulberry, Des Moines, a large group of rodents including ter food by the Indians a nd trad- including native fish. The state Iowa. Send coin, check or money a'fder. mice, rats, beavers, rabbits, squir­ ers. is following a definite program to rels, and porcupines; and that The n ative Indians of this acquaint Iowans with the life and Conservation Commission they have slightly webbed hind country used game and fur ani­ economic value of each kind of Military Service Honor Roll feet and long, narrow, rudder­ mals only for essentials-not for wildlife. To arouse an interest like tails, particularly useful in the fun of hunting. As settlers in the food value of wildlife in swimming, does.not make rats out arrived and civilization prog­ general and to stimulate the use of them. They possess strongly ressed, the attitude toward game of many of them i n the diet has developed instincts for self prE:s ­ gradu ally changed, with increas­ been the purpose of a special * ALEXANDER .WW * MORF W J • * ALEXANDER.C.R. * OLSON. ~ERMAN ervation. Sites for their houses ing emphasis on the use of game study in progress this last year * BAKER. MILFORD * PARTRIDGE . W F are chosen in or near marshes, largely for recreational purposes, at Iowa State College. The Fish * BERRY. tREE M * PULVEP..ROB'r * BAER.