i know skunk 's ,do , and I don't want to start a fight about cold weather-verse day-light

My vote = coon

yote

Males. At least in k-9s and coon
That's my take on it

Im no scientist but this was my simple take on it...

Animals that spend their time outside and exposed to elements prime up first. Coyotes, fox,, etc. Their world can see temps hit zero.

Animals that spend time in water and or underground dens like beaver, rats, badger, those prime up much later. Water freezes at below 32 degrees F. And even under ice unfrozen water is still at least that temp. Underground dens much warmer for longer.

Possums.

The trappers, because it takes longer.

Seems like Boar coon around here, noticed the wife's pet fox has changed some this week. Mike

i find land animal's are the first ,but out of them , I believe the males are first , I skin a lot of skunk's this time of year ,and there fur is nice, not great but nice ,and the fur buyer likes them, here the skunk are the first to den up for winter ,

This

Agree with Trapper Dahlgren

Badger
Prime up in January/Feb.
Before spring! LOL

Temps have nothing to do with prime furs. It's photoperiodism. Why do you think fur farms manipulate the light.

It depends on what you consider "prime".
If you are talking about when an animal is at its peak value, that doesn't necessarily coincide with when they have the heaviest fur. This is particularly true of coyotes, fox, and mink. These three species are at their peak value well before they are fully furred out. A fully furred out mink loses its glossiness, and a fully furred out K9 becomes thick and wooly, and in the case of fox will lose its luster also.

Genetics will also play a part In a individual animal as to when It primes.

Why do Lynx and Bobcat prime later than coyotes and fox?

If a Beaver spends a lot of time in its den and underwater where the sun doesn’t shine they should prime earlier?

Marten prime up earliest.They carry no body fat(unless they have been living at a carcass pile) and depend on fur to keep warm.Mustelids have a high metabolic rate and hunt for food constantly in winter.They have evolved thick insulating pelts as a result that come in early.
Animals with no fat and high metabolic rate generally prime up earlier and develop heavy insulating pelts.
Bear is a good example at the opposite end.
When they go into hibernation,their fur is short and not much for insulating quality,but they have a very thick layer of fat under the skin.(similar with beaver)As the winter progresses their fat layer shrinks considerably and the fur grows to take over the job of insulating the animal to hold body heat.
Bears are prime here when they come out of their den for a couple weeks end of may/begin june until they start to rub and shed.
When I hunted a lot of spring bear,I could tell by looking at the pelt what condition the animal was in.A lot of the larger bears had shorter fur and still retained an inch or so of fat under the hide.Their hides remained in nice shape longer than smaller bears in spring.
Smaller bears in spring often had thick wooly underfur and no fat whatsoever left under the hide,and were shedding and rubbing right away in spring.

Chupacabra is prime right now. Bigfoot will be next week.

Jackalopes prime up here as soon as they're out of velvet

Interestingly though........mature boar coon and coon in general seem to prime up early or at least the hides show creamy white early compared to most and they're supposedly somewhat related to bear and carry a lot of excess fat a lot of the time.