9 Different Animals That Have Lofty Hair On Their Body

Antarctic fur seal

The Antarctic fur seal is one of eight seals in the genus Arctocephalus and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. This fur seal is a fairly large animal and has a short and broad snout compared with others in the family.

Adult males are dark brown in colour. Females and juveniles tend to be grey with a lighter undersides. The usual food supply is krill of which each Antarctic fur seal eats about a ton in a year. Due to the enormous and growing populations of these seals their food is a significant proportion of South Georgia’s krill stocks.

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American mink

The American mink is a semi aquatic species of mustelid native to North America though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe and South America. The American mink’s winter fur is denser, longer, softer and more close-fitting than that of the European mink. The summer fur is generally shorter, sparser and duller than the winter fur. The American mink is a carnivorous animal which feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, amphibians and birds.

American minks are primarily used in manufacturing ladies fur coats, jackets and capes. Pelts which are not able to be converted into these items are made into trimming for cloth and fur coats. Mink scarves and stoles are also manufactured. Jackets and capes are mostly made from small to medium-sized specimens usually females and young males while trimming scarves and stoles are made from adult males. The most valuable peltries come from eastern Canada which although the smallest are the silkiest and darkest.

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Red fox

The red fox has an elongated body and relatively short limbs. The tail which is longer than half the body length is fluffy and reaches the ground when in a standing position. Their pupils are oval and vertically oriented. Nictitating membranes are present but move only when the eyes are closed. The forepaws have five digits while the hind feet have only four and lack dewclaws. They are very agile being capable of jumping over 2-metre high fences and swim well. Vixens normally have four pairs of teats though vixens with seven, nine or ten teats are not uncommon.

The testes of males are smaller than those of Arctic foxes. Their skulls are fairly narrow and elongated with small brain cases. Their canine teeth are relatively long. The winter fur is dense, soft, silky and relatively long. There are three main colour morphs such as red, silver/black and cross Red foxes are among the most important fur bearing animals harvested by the fur trade. Their pelts are used for trimmings, scarfs, muffs, jackets and coats. They are principally used as trimming for both cloth coats and fur garments including evening wraps. The pelts of silver-morph foxes are popular as capes while cross foxes are mostly used for scarfs and rarely for trimming.

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Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha found in several parts of the world. The male is called a buck and the female is a doe. A young rabbit is a kitten or kit. Rabbits are herbivores that feed by grazing on grass, forbs and leafy weeds. In consequence their diet contains large amounts of cellulose which is hard to digest.

Domestic rabbits can be kept as pets in a back yard hutch or indoors in a cage or house trained to have free roam. Rabbit is sold in UK butchers and markets and some supermarkets sell frozen rabbit meat. When used for food rabbits are both hunted and bred for meat. Snares or guns are usually employed when catching wild rabbits for food. In many regions rabbits are also bred for meat a practice called cuniculture.

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Beaver

The beaver is a primarily nocturnal large semi-aquatic rodent. Beavers are known for building dams, canals and lodges. They are the second-largest rodent in the world. Their colonies create one or more dams to provide still deep water to protect against predators and to float food and building material.

The North American beaver population was once more than 60 million but as of 1988 was 6-12 million. This population decline is the result of extensive hunting for fur for glands used as medicine and perfume and because the beavers harvesting of trees and flooding of waterways may interfere with other land uses.

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Raccoon

The raccoon sometimes spelled racoon also known as the common raccoon,  North American raccoon, northern raccoon and colloquially as coon  is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. Theraccoon is the largest of the procyonid family having a body length of 40 to 70 cm and a body weight of 3.5 to 9 kg. Its grayish coat mostly consists of dense underfur which insulates against cold weather. Two of the raccoon’s most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask.

Raccoons are noted for their intelligence with studies showing that they are able to remember the solution to tasks for up to three years. The diet of the omnivorous raccoon which is usually nocturnal consists of about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant foods and 27% vertebrates. After a gestation period of about 65 days two to five young known as “kits” are born in spring. The kits are subsequently raised by their mother until dispersal in late fall. Although captive raccoons have been known to live over 20 years their life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. In many areas hunting and vehicular injury are the two most common causes of death.

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Chinchilla

Chinchillas are crepuscular rodents slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels. Most chinchillas currently used by the fur industry for clothing and other accessories are farm-raised. Chinchilla fur is considered one of the most valuable furs in the world.

The severe population decline has been caused by chinchilla hunting by humans. Their fur is popular in the fur trade due to its extremely soft feel which is caused by the sprouting of 60 hairs from each hair follicle. The color is usually very even which makes it ideal for small garments or the lining of large garments though some large garments can be made entirely from the fur.

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Muskrat

An adult muskrat is about 40–70 cm long half of that is the tail and weighs from 0.6–2 kg. That is about four times the weight of the brown rat. Muskrats are covered with short thick fur which is medium to dark brown or black in color with the belly a bit lighter as the age increases it turns a partly gray in color. The fur has two layers which helps protect them from the cold water. Native Americans have long considered the muskrat to be a very important animal.

Some predict winter snowfall levels by observing the size and timing of muskrat lodge construction. Muskrats have sometimes been a food resource for humans. Muskrat fur is warm becoming prime at the beginning of December in northern North America. The muskrat is considered a pest as its burrowing damages the dikes and levees on which these low-lying countries depend for protection from flooding. Muskrats also eat corn and other farm and garden crops growing near water bodies. Royal Canadian Mounted Police winter hats are made from muskrat fur.

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Marten

Marten fur which is soft somewhat resembling that of foxes is about one and one-half inches long. The color varies from pale gray to orange-brown and dark brown.