IDENTIFICATON OF FUR BEARING ANIMALS

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IDENTIFICATON OF FUR BEARING ANIMALS

• By Jill Tipton
• Edited by Kaci Hatch

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Objectives

• List and describe nine Texas game animal species
• List and describe nineteen Texas fur-bearing
  animals
• Explain the regulations which pertain to the
  trapping and raising of fur-bearing animals in
  Texas.

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What is a fur-bearing animal?

• Fur-bearing animals refer to vertebrate animals
  with a pelt valued for its use in trimming or
  lining of garments.
• Texas law identifies the following as fur-bearing
  animals
• Badgers Weasels
• Beavers Muskrat
• Nutria Raccoon
• Foxes Skunk

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Game Animals vs. Fur Bearing Animals

• Classification as a game animal requires
  production, growth, or natural living in the sate
  or part of the state.
• Examples
• White-tailed deer Squirrels
• Mule deer Javelinas
• Desert Bighorn Sheep Elk

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Licenses

• A trapper license cost 15 for a resident of
  Texas and 250 for a non resident.
• This allows the trapper to take fur-bearing
  animals for personal use, when taken outside the
  commercial season.

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illegal Issues

• To take otter with fire arms
• To use leghold style trap
• Use smoke, explosives, or chemical irritant of
  any kind
• Shoot at or attempt to take a fur-bearing animal
  from a boat on public waters in Texas

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Sale or Purchase Of Fur-Bearing Animals or Pelts

• 1. Fur-bearing animals and their pelts can only
  be sold by
• Licensed trappers
• Licensed retail buyers or wholesale dealers
• Fur-bearing animal propagators
• 2. Live fur-bearing animals or their pelts can
  be sold only from November 1 through April 5.

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Fur-Bearing Animals ThatWill Be Identified

• Badgers
• Beavers
• Foxes
• Red Fox
• Desert Fox
• Swift Fox
• Gray Fox
• Minks

• Muskrats
• Nutria
• Opossum
• Otter
• Racoons
• Ringtails
• Snunks
• Black Bear

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Badger

• Covers the western half of Texas
• Large, robust, short-legged weasel with a broad
  body and short, thick tail
• They have a distinct white stripe that extends
  from tip of the nose back over the top of the
  head to shoulder area.
• They are active throughout the year

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Beaver

• Aquatic rodents
• Found over a large area of Texas
• Broad, flat, scaly tails
• Webbed hind feet
• Dark brown color

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Red Fox

• Bright, golden yellow body
• Chin, throat, belly mid-line of belly are white
• Forefeet legs are black

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Desert Fox

• Smaller body
• Upper body is buffy gray
• Sides, tail mid-belly are clear buff
• Throat is white
• Have large ears

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Swift Fox

• Smallest of the American foxes
• Upper parts are pale buffy yellow with frosted
  white
• Tail is buffy gray with a black tip

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Gray Fox

• Gray upper body
• Reddish brown legs
• White throat, cheeks, mid-line of belly
• Found in most Texas counties

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Weasel

• Long, slender animal
• Short legs long tail
• Small, rounded ears

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Mink

• Size of a house cat
• Dark brown
• Semi-aquatic
• Prefer small streams

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Muskrat

• Large, brownish, aquatic, scaly-tailed rodent
• Tail is naked
• Inhabit marshes

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Nutria

• Aquatic rodent that resembles the beaver
• Long, round sparsely haired tail
• Dark underfur with long, glossy dark brown guard
  hairs
• Native to South America and introduced to US in
  1938

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Opossum

• Long, scaly, prehensile tail
• Nocturnal
• White base and black tipped fur

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Otter

• Large, dark brown animal with slender body
• Webbed feet long thick tail
• Aquatic and feed mostly on fish

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Raccoon

• Blackish facial mask with white outline
• Tail is black and white alternating rings
• nocturnal

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Ringtails

• Resembles a small fox
• Long, tail with alternating white and black rings
• Nocturnal
• Bodies are gray

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Spotted Skunk

• Small white spot on forehead
• Six distinct white stripes on body

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Striped Skunk

• Two white stripes on sides of back
• Stripes connect at the neck region continue
  down the head
• Inhabits every county in the State

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Black Bear

• Medium-size bear
• Black or brown
• Front claws are slightly longer and curved for
  climbing
• They reside in the mountainous areas of the
  Trans-Pecos region

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Objectives

• List and describe nine Texas game animal species
• List and describe nineteen Texas fur-bearing
  animals
• Explain the regulations which pertain to the
  trapping and raising of fur-bearing animals in
  Texas.