Trapping

New York State is one of the nation’s top producers of wild furs for the commercial fur trade. New York City remains a center for the production and marketing of fur garments.

Trapping provides important benefits to New Yorkers including: the control of nuisance damage, economic benefits to trappers and people involved in the fur industry, and recreation to trappers.

The 14 species of furbearing animals in New York are abundant and their populations are secure. DEC regulates trapping seasons to ensure the continued security of New York’s furbearer populations.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/355.html

Coronavirus Updates : NPR

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Danish Agriculture Minister Resigns Amid Criticism For Ordering Mink Cull : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

The cull was ordered after a mutated version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was found to have spread among the country's mink herd — one of the world's largest — and then to humans. The AP reported at least 11 people were sickened by a mutated version of the virus.

Multiple mutations of the virus have been found in minks, but a variant known as C5 was the most concerning to scientists, due to its structure. Research from a Danish public health body, the Statens Serum Institut, had suggested that C5 might hinder the effectiveness of a vaccine against COVID-19.

Natural furs are warm, and don't use synthetic plastics. Probably though the cull was necessary to protect human health and the future viability of the farms. Mink are a renewable resource that can rebred, so while the feed and energy that went into raising them was wasted, the resource of the fur can be reproduced going forward. 

Not a fish eater and not a cat. What’s in a name? – The Adirondack Almanack

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Fisher cat: Not a fish eater and not a cat. What’s in a name? – The Adirondack Almanack

The male and female fisher have comparable appearances and overall coloration, but the male is much larger, varying from 35 to 47 inches in length and ranging between eight and thirteen pounds. The female is generally between 30 and 37 inches in length and weighs from four to six pounds. Their dense, soft fur make them very popular and profitable targets for trappers. Their coats vary in color from dark chocolate brown to a deep black in winter, lightening considerably in the summer, making winter the prime season for trapping. The thickness of the fur coat also varies with the season, with the winter coat being the densest, and therefore most sought after.

The attractiveness and value of fisher pelts for the fur trade contributed to a decline in the fisher’s range and numbers, which, together with the felling of pine forests for farming and then the subsequent expansion of housing, sped the fisher’s decline. However, thanks to a gradual shift of human populations from rural farmland to cities and suburbs in the late 1800s into the 1900s,second and third growth forests began to fill in once-tilled farmland, maturing over the years. Together with the imposition of carefully monitored trapping seasons and limits, the fisher has now reoccupied its original range and numbers continue to grow.

Young skunks are on the move this summer — Furbearer Conservation

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Of Pools and Private Wells: Young skunks are on the move this summer — Furbearer Conservation

Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) are common urban fixtures in New England. Its not uncommon for these black sqand white balls of odorous fluff to be observed hunting around trash cans, dumpsters, apartment complexes, inner city alleyways and other human-inhabited areas in search of an easy meal.

When not taking full advantage of the byproducts created by humanity, skunks can commonly be seen foraging along suburban lawns and outer edges of rural sectors of the Northeast in search of grubs, worms, and other insects.