MusHat Aging. Muskrat fur is now an industry on both private and state 
marshes, It has been difficult to compare the crop from different marshes

because pelts of young-of-the-year could not be distinguished from pelts
of 
adults. We have now found that the "priming pattern" is a sure
way to classify 
the pelts (slide). Pelts with stripes or zones are yolg; mottled pelts are

old. Thus Horicon Marsh last year yielded about 8,000 pelts, 6 young, while

the Winnebago area yielded 84% young.