ST. ANTHONY BIGHT — It was a slight rebound in the fur market that reignited a spark in Dean Patey, but the unseasonable weather has made the trapper’s decision a good one.
The St. Anthony Bight man admitted losing some interest in the industry last winter. The prices for pelts were down and there hadn’t been much snow in the early winter months on the Northern Peninsula.
Ever since he was a boy, big enough to walk, Patey said he was setting rabbit snares. While his friends were out ice skating or playing pond hockey, he preferred to go into the woods with his rifle.
Last season though, the hunting and trapping lost a bit of luster for him, and he found himself not spending the usual amount of time at it.
“It just wasn’t worth it,” he said.
This year though, there has been a bit of a rebound in the market price for pelts. It was enough to overcome the blues of another year of little snow to get Patey out and interested. He said the early numbers add up to one of his best seasons yet.
The lack of snow since the season opened in October proved an asset to him.
“Although I can cover more area on my snow machine, and I can get further in to get at mink and otter, once the snow comes, it freezes the traps right up,” he told The Northern Pen last month.
So far, he collected 25 foxes, 25 mink, nine otters, nine coyotes, and six weasels.
The lack of snow hasn’t been all a blessing. Patey said the weasel coats are still brown in colour, which doesn’t fetch as high a price in the market as the white pelts.
While an asset for a certain time, it is also now proving to be a hindrance. Thursday, the trapper said he had been laying back and relaxing since the holidays. He is now waiting for enough snow to get into the back country on snowmobile, where he hopes to add to his successful season. The animals within walking distance are pretty scarce after such success, he said.
Patey, as does several other trappers on the Northern Peninsula, sells his pelts to a North American Fur Association representative. That organization takes the pelts to Ontario where they are auctioned to buyers around the world — reaching markets throughout China, Greece and Russia.
In auctions held by the association in May, coyote pelts averaged $25 and $35 per pelt, while otter averaged between $20 and $50.
Patey said the market varies, mostly depending on which companies buy the pelts.
“Three years ago, the lynx was worth as high as $300 or $400,” he said. “Now, you can’t even sell one. That’s because the Russian ruble fell out, and the Russians are the only ones who buy the lynx from Newfoundland.”
The province’s island trapping season for mink, coyote and fox remains open until Feb. 1, weasel and squirrel until Feb. 28, and beaver, muskrat and otter until March 15.
