July 20, 2015

"Ethical fur" — made from road-kill animals.

"It was a wasted resource and I decided after some deep thought that I could make a viable business out of this," says Pamela Paquin, of Petite Mort Fur.
"I started working with the Highway Department and animal control officers who would report them to me when they had an animal down. They took me seriously, thank God."

Now, when they hear of dead animals, they contact Paquin. She drives out to pick the animal up herself. And if it's possible, she skins the animal where she found it.

"I like to put the remains in the woods for other animals to have safely as a meal. It's like roadkill sushi, really, but it's in a safe place rather than having the scavengers go on the road and get hit as well."...

Each fur piece is adorned with a sterling silver badge that says what the animal was and where and when it was killed...

32 comments:

Michael K said...

In Alaska, the road kill belongs to the next name on the game management district list. You have an hour to come get it then the next name is called. This is how people living off the grid in Alaska get food. The "ethical fur" idiots better not try to interfere. Most of these Alaskans are armed to the teeth.

mikee said...

If this business takes off and more raw materials are needed, I suspect there will be a sudden increase in small furry animals being run over, maybe by company cars right there in the fur coat factory.

Alexander said...

I like to imagine this leads to a Cobra effect involving lots of pickup trucks.

Paco Wové said...

I admit I got a chuckle out of "Petit Mort" (though shouldn't it be 'Petite Mort'?). Sounds like a win-win scenario, anyway.

Paco Wové said...

Hey, death changed gender on me!

rehajm said...

It's what they would have wanted.

MadisonMan said...

In Wisconsin, the dead deer belongs to the person who hit it. Or it has in the past. Consolation for the car damage, maybe?

When my wife hit deer, long ago, she drove to the nearest bar (naturally) to call the police (this was pre-cell), and met the police back at the kill site, where someone was already picking up the carcasses. The wife let them keep them, probably fed a family for a month. This was also pre-CWD.

tim in vermont said...

Dead coyotes along the road are rarely there very long around here. I doubt that it has anything to do with "ethical fur" though, it's just one they don't have to go through the effort to shoot.

Etienne said...

shouldn't it be 'Petite Mort'?

It is, that's what she calls it. She looks like she's had a few.

bleh said...

Petite Mort? Orgasm fur?

Haha.

Gahrie said...

In England back in the 1970's, people used to hunt pheasant with their cars. During hunting season, it was not uncommon for pheasants to be hit on the road near hunting preserves. However, it was illegal to stop and pick up the pheasant if you hit it. (At least that was what we were told) So we would drive around in two cars. The first would hit the birds, and the second would stop and pick them up.

The pheasants were big enough that they actually made pretty good BBQ after you drained and aged them a day or two.

Writ Small said...

I imagine some PETA radicals read everything Pamela Paquin says with a German accent.

Bob Boyd said...


Uber has a new Fashion Division.

tim in vermont said...

My joke for around here is "How can you tell that On Golden Pond was not set in Vermont? Because if it were, they would have eaten 'Walter.'

lgv said...

Does she segregate pelts by species? A nice stole would take quite a few dead rabbits. Maybe she Franensteins them together. Do they still have tire tracks on them?

At first I thought this was crazy stupid. It is, but I'm guessing that there is plenty of crazy stupid to buy this stuff.

Humperdink said...

She could make a killing (ha!) up here in the north woods of Pa beginning early November.

Referring to wily whitetail being on the move, of course.

Etienne said...

On a slow week she has her employees go out and make sure they get their quota.

See, I do have a cynical side to me.

khesanh0802 said...

What about all those people who love " fresh road pizza"?

furious_a said...


Also known as a 'Brunswick Stew Coat'.

Bob Boyd said...

If somebody runs over a woman wearing a fur coat do the cops call Pamela Paquin?

Michael said...

There was an article about eating roadkill in the New Yorker in the early 1970s. I think McPhee wrote it.

Anthony said...

I vaguely recall something about a certain zoo using road kill to feed their carnivores. Made them happy as clams to have a whole critter to munch on, roll around in, etc. Or maybe they were just thinking about it. Always seemed like a neat idea to me.

Etienne said...

There was an article about eating roadkill in the New Yorker in the early 1970s. I think McPhee wrote it.

I saw something on the national TV news about a guy who lived on roadkill. He wasn't a whack-o, he wasn't advocating it, he just found it was a good way to add meat to his diet.

A lot of it was deer, but there was other animals he enjoyed eating. Obviously, he only ate the fresh kills, and wasn't much into maggot infested week old stuff.

Anonymous said...

I knew someone who ate roadkill. This wasn't Alaska, but the UK. Weird hobby.

Rob said...

Yum, roadkill sushi. Coming soon, by the director of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi": "Bubba Dreams of Roadkill."

JCC said...

I can't believe I am the first to mention that classic ballad of road kill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu5hzc2Mei4

by the son of the great Life magazine editor of the same name.

An American original.

Deb said...

Nothing says sophistication like possum fur.

Deb said...

@Anthony
I believe John McPhee was writing about Carol Ruckdeschel, a biologist living on Cumberland Island, Georgia.

David said...

"Petite Mort Fur."

Orgasmic over dead animals. Perfect.

Michael said...

Deb

I think you are correct although the essay was not included in the Encounters with the Archdruids, his book about Cumberland.

There is a new book about Carol by the way. Strange bird.

Mark said...

Do you pay extra for a coat with authentic tread marks across the back?

Original Mike said...

"In Wisconsin, the dead deer belongs to the person who hit it. Or it has in the past."

In the far past (when I was a teenager and a deer hunter) this was not the case. The DNR took the carcas. Then they changed the law to its current form.