This might sound a little insensitive but hear me out. I have a few swirling research interests out there that I can’t quite wrangle down to earth for one reason or another. Here is one that needs more meddling. What I will call, (tentative title): Critter Culture.
(That is a horrible name)
Horrible name yes, but I am embarking on a journey that starts with road kill. Again, stay with me. I still remember being a bright eyed 16 year old driving on Ohio’s back country roads, having a perfectly lovely evening among the rolling hills and twinkling stars. That is until a cuddly creature of the night darted out to see what all the commotion was about and inducing a mild teenage heart attack. Despite my caution, I did have a very unfortunate run-in with a deer, late one evening that I was lucky to walk away from. The experience of taking a lazy boy sized chunk out of my car and the life of a woodland creature has stayed with me.
At this point I begin to ponder that loss in a new way. So I hit one deer. It is estimated in the US that 1.5 million car crashes are caused each year by deer alone. There are a lot of issues to discuss in this situation of course. Loss of human life, millions of dollars in auto damage, land use and road placement, habitat loss, etc. However, I want to home in on the point of resource intensive creatures laying waste on the sides of our roads and freeways. This may not be directly transferable, but ill cite the fact that it takes about a 6:1 ratio to grow a cow, 3:1 pig, and 2:1 chicken. This comparison is a bit of stretch but my point is that an animal on the side of the road, be it deer, fox, rabbit, what have you, took a certain amount of energy (nature’s productivity in food and water) from its environment all to be nicked off by a car and be taken away to god knows where (presumably landfills) by some road service worker. A waste any way you scratch it.
Bringing it back to the bigger picture I want to investigate the relationship society seems to have to animal products. I think there is a lot more to talk about than Peta and Vegans. They are apart of the environment but think there is a lot more out in the ether to talk about than proclaiming some behaviors bad and others good. Obeying proclamation does not seem to be a strong part of human nature so I think investigation is in order. Might it be possible to I think of a new paradigm that is less black and white and more thoughtful? Is there room for a paradigm shift? Is there such a thing as for GOOD fur? Are there opportunities to create small scale responsible producers of luxury materials? Could waste products from one industry become a material source for another? There are so many questions to ask and investigate but the below tidbit from New York Magazine is an interesting nugget of information (namely, difficult to track down supply chain info) I happened to come across.
Of course, more on this as it develops…
Sable:
Higher-end, catlike cousin of weasels and minks; hunted by expert marksmen who aim to fell them with one shot between the eyes to minimize pelt damage. $$$$$
Fox:
Bred on Scandinavian farms to produce up to 30 colors. $$
Mink:
The most popular fur for its durability, density, and lightness; most comes from Europe, but the best-quality pelts are farmed in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Utah. $$$
Beaver:
Super-glossy in texture; can be sheared to create a lighter alternative to tundra-ready pelts like wolverine. $$
Coyote:
A favorite of menswear designers; snared in the wild in the Dakotas, New York, California, and along the Canadian border. $$$
Rabbit:
Extremely soft but frail and inclined to shedding. $$
Chinchilla:
Now exclusively farmed after being hunted to near extinction in the nineteenth century. With an average of 60 hairs growing from each follicle, the squirrelly animal’s pelt has a velvety texture. $$$$
Nutria:
Recently marketed as “righteous fur” because the rodents can be considered pests in the wild. $
Possum:
To cut down on overpopulation, New Zealand has attempted to promote the coarse skin as “Eco-Fur.” $
