The fur-bearing trout—sometimes referred to as the furry trout, sabled salmon, or beaver trout—is a mythical creature traditionally reported from the northern portions of the Rocky Mountain range and Great Basin, as well as the Great Lakes region and areas north into Canada. According to the story, the native trout species have evolved coats of fur to keep warm in the bitterly cold winters of the region. A possible explanation for the story’s origin is the appearance of Saprolegnia, patches of mold that can grow on freshwater organisms, including fish. In certain conditions, a fish infected with Saprolegnia could die and be completely covered in what appears to be hair. Washed up on the shore, the fish would appear to have a coat of fur.
In all likelihood, the legend of furry trout was derived from a seventeenth-century letter written by a Canadian immigrant to his relatives in Scotland. In the letter the immigrant described the “furried animals and fish.” The hypothesis is that the relatives misread the description, believing that the adjective “furried” applied to fish as well as animals. Alternately, he actually sent a specimen home. An even more far-fetched origin story reports that fish first grew hair when four jugs of hair tonic were accidentally spilled into the headwaters of the Arkansas River in Colorado during the 1870s. S. E. Schlosser’s tale of what happened next is even more outlandish than how the furry fish came into existence in the first place: “Not too long after this incident, the fishermen along the Arkansas developed a new method for catching trout. They’d head to the bank of the river carrying a red and white barber pole and some scissors. Then they would set up the barber pole and call out: ‘Get your free shave and a hair cut here.’ All the trout whose fur had grown too long or who needed their beards trimmed would hop right out of the water and be picked up by the fishermen. It wasn’t until the mills began muddying the waters so much that the fish couldn’t see the barber poles that the practice died out” (Schlosser 2004).
Regardless of the cause, legends agree that the fur-bearing trout sheds its coat during the spring, only to begin growing it again as the weather turns colder in the fall. The rarity of encounters with this animal is thus explained by the seasonal nature of the coat: confining it to the high winter when access to the mountain streams where they thrive is more difficult due to heavy snowfall.
Although stories extend back at least into the nineteenth century, the May 1929 edition of Montana WildLife documents J. H. Hicken’s tongue-in-cheek discovery and observations of this “mysterious piscatorial curiosity” while camping near Glacier National Park: “The water in the lake is so cold that nature has taken care of her own by providing the fish with a thick coat of fur. In fact, the water is so cold that it is beyond the freezing point.” Hicken continues in a nonsensical vein, noting that the fish observe a “love month” in June and, if one should be removed from the water, explode upon contact with the fresh mountain air due to differences in temperature. Finally, Hicken cites the species’ curative properties: “If the fur is made into a neckpiece it has been found to be a cure for goiter and tonsillitis; the fur stimulating circulation to such an extent that all impurities are removed” (Hicken 1929). A website titled “Myth or Marvel: The Fur-Bearing Trout” lists three trout of the Artikdander genus: Hicken’s fur-bearing trout, the albino-pelted trout, and the beaver trout.
Similar tales of hairy or furry fish also appear in the mythologies of Scandinavia, Iraq, and the Azores Islands, although the fur-bearing trout of North America is the most well-known example of this legend. In its popular association with the frontier, a highly exaggerated fictional element, and first-person narration of discovery, the fur-bearing trout has all the qualities of a tall tale. In the Great Lakes region, mounted specimens of the fur-bearing trout are tourist curiosities. Obviously artificial, these tongue-in-cheek mountings have become a marker of local culture. They can be found in museums, bars, and other public spaces throughout the region, and can also be found for sale at local gift shops.
Andrew Howe
See also Animal Tales; Fakelore; Fish(ing) Tales; Jackalope; Yarns, Yarn-spinning
Further Reading
“Fur-Bearing Trout.” Museum of Hoaxes website. http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/animals/comments/furbearing_trout. Accessed July 14, 2015.
Hicken, James Herbert. 1929. “The Fur-Bearing Trout. Myth or Marvel?” The Fur-Bearing Trout website. http://www.furbearingtrout.com/montanawildlife.html. Accessed July 14, 2015.
Schlosser, S. E. 2004. Spooky Southwest: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press.
Fur-bearing Trout—Primary Document
James Herbert Hicken, “The Fur-Bearing Trout” (1929)
The old story of the fur-bearing trout bears some similarity to contemporary accounts of the jackalope—a fictional creature dreamed up to play tricks on gullible listeners and readers. The possibility of a trout with a fur coat also gave storytellers a way to exaggerate the extremely cold temperatures in places like Iceland or Montana. In this respect, the fur-bearing trout story is fakelore, but also a kind of tall tale that helps readers to imagine fantastic landscapes with grand mountain ranges and glacier-fed rivers teeming with exotic wildlife.
May, 1929—Montana WildLife
Official Publication of the Montana State
Fish and Game Department
Eastern dudes beset with the opinion that everything west of Buffalo is outside the United States, that the Mississippi valley is way out west, that most every feller in Montana and sister states goes out and kills himself an Indian before breakfast just to keep in shape, have become interested in the fur-bearing fish discovered and copyrighted by J.H. Hicken of Whitefish Montana. Mr. Hicken has kindly granted Montana Wildlife permission to publish the photograph and story of this mysterious piscatorial curiosity. Here’s the way he tells it, believe it or not.
The discovery of this fur-bearing fish was made while traveling through Glacier National Park during a sudden drop in temperature, following up of which led to “Iceberg Lake” located near Whitefish, Montana. Several hooks were broken immediately upon touching the water. Finally one was heated, and when it hit the water, the temperature tempered the hook, with the result that one of the fish was caught. “The water in this lake is so cold that nature has taken care of her own by providing the fish with a thick coat of fur. In fact the water is so cold that it is beyond the freezing point.”
The bezel, a very rare specimen, is found only on Prince Edward Island and lives on the hum of the humming bird. They were found to be the only bait that these fish will bite except in extreme warm weather, when it has been learned that they will bite on ice worms. Another peculiarity of this fish is that it follows the precept of the poet who said: “in the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” So, with these fish, and during this period with a portable phonograph, by putting on a love song the fish will come to the surface and the quick transfer, to a jazz record results in them shaking themselves to death, when they can be picked out of the water.
It has been found that these fish absolutely refuse to bite during the “love” month of June, but as there is always a black sheep in every family, the one caught (picture of which has been taken) disgraced himself before the entire family and suffered the usual penalty.
They make a rare fight in landing them out of the water, due to the fact that nature has provided them with this fur, which ruffles and causes such a resistance that it is practically impossible to land them only under most favorable circumstances. The fur also acts as an accelerator, and when they step on the gas with their tails and fins their speed is beyond any known fish at the present time. This, in turn, also acts as a brake in reducing speed or stopping, by simply putting the fur against the grain, and is their protection against survival of the fittest.
The change of temperature from this water to atmosphere is so great that the fish explodes upon being taken from the water, and fur and skin come off in one perfect piece, making it available for tanning and commercial purposes, and leaving the body of the fish for refrigerator purposes or eating, as desired; the body keeping the ordinary refrigerator cold for two or three months and no ice required. If fish is desired for eating purposes it will take several days’ cooking to reduce the temperature to a point where ordinary people can dispose of it.
If the fur is made into a neckpiece it has been found to be a cure for goiter and tonsillitis; the fur stimulating circulation to such an extent that all impurities are removed. The fish has been so recently discovered that information regarding their habits, etc., is very meager, but further details will be given when available.
James Herbert Hicken—A railroad man who left to live with the black-foot Indians around Whitefish Montana
Source: Hicken, James Herbert. “The Fur-Bearing Trout.” Montana Wildlife. Helena, MT: Montana State Fish and Game Department, 1929.