52 REPORT OF ALASKA INVESTIGATIONS. 



part of the shore, sometimes for 100 to 150 feet back from the stream, trodden like a pasture in well-defined 

 paths that looked as if made by cattle. Over all this area, frequented by bears during the salmon runs, 

 I saw hundreds upon hundreds of humpbacks, silvers, and chums that had been thrown out of the water 

 by these animals. In the majority of cases the fish were not mutilated, only bruised by the mark of the 

 bear's paw on their backs, showing their characteristic way of tossing the fish out of water. The bear 

 is very fastidious and prefers the cheek of the salmon to any other part. In most cases the remaining 

 portion of each fish is left untouched. One can readily realixe that a large, healthy bear would require a 

 great many salmon cheeks to satisfy his ravenous appetite. The stench along this stream was most 

 unpleasant, and besides the fish in varying stages of decomposition there were many bones that gave indi- 

 cation of the large number of salmon destroyed annually by the bears. 



I found a similar condition on Prince of Wales Island below Silver Salmon Falls, where thousands of 

 fish, unable to ascend this natural barrier, had fallen back tired and worn out, only to be cast ashore by 

 bears. If the bear would take out of the water only what he actually eats, this condition would not be 

 nearly so bad; but the destruction of so many fish from pure maliciousness, or playfulness, makes it a 

 serious matter. 



The foregoing examples of Union Bay and Prince of Wales Island are merely typical of many other 

 places where black bears are very plentiful and the destruction of salmon is correspondingly heavy. On 

 Admiralty and Baranof Islands, where the brown and grizzly bears are more common, these conditions are 

 just as bad as on other streams in southeastern Alaska which empty into arms of the sea. 



And not alone in this section of the country are the salmon interests affected by the depredations of 

 bears, for in many localities in the central and western regions the same effects at certain seasons of the 

 year are observed. On Kodiak Island, where the largest bears in the world are found, they frequent the 

 streams and spawning grounds of the sockeye and the humpback salmons. A native told me that one of 

 these animals can eat, in a single day, a third of its own weight. This may be somewhat exaggerated, 

 but when one realizes that an adult specimen of this bear weighs about three-fourths of a ton he can appre- 

 ciate the number of salmon needed for its subsistence. As in other parts of the Territory, this bear also 

 throws considerable numbers of fish out of the water, many of which it may never care to touch for food. 



Wolves. Wolves play a part similar to the bears in the destruction of salmon, but to a less extent, 

 owing to the fact that they prefer to hunt game, especially deer. 



Eagles. In southeast Alaska, particularly, the eagle is a contributing cause in the destruction of 

 salmon during the spawning season. I noted, on one cluster of rocks on Admiralty Island, between 40 

 and 50 of these birds that had been satisfying their appetites on salmon in a stream close by. Below 

 Silver Salmon Falls, and on Hofstad Creek, and again on Black Bear Creek, I observed hundreds of them, 

 early in the morning and in the evening, ravenously eating salmon that had been making an effort to reach 

 their goal. British Columbia has a bounty on these destructive birds, and I think that it would be the 

 means of saving many salmon and their spawn if the United States Government placed a similar bounty 

 on them in Alaska. 



There is another feature worthy of consideration, showing the depredations of the eagle. It hardly 

 comes under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Fisheries, still it is in line with conservation and protection. 

 I not only observed, but have heard from various reliable sources, that eagles kill many fawns. I saw 

 where a number of eagles had destroyed two fawns, and I have no doubt that many hundreds of them 

 are killed every season. 



Gulls and terns. Of the birds, probably the most destructive to fish life are the gulls and terns. It 

 is difficult to state adequately the amount of damage they do and the menace they are to the future supply 

 of salmon. To make this clearer, I will cite one experience I had in western Alaska at Sierra Creek. I 

 inspected this stream on a rainy day at low tide, and as I approached it at the mouth my attention was 

 attracted by a movement of birds in the water and along the banks. As I drew nearer, I saw thousands 

 of salmon fighting their way up the shallow stream, and among these fish were the gulls, picking out first 

 one eye and then the other. I flushed this enormous horde of gulls, which I believe numbered at least 10,000. 

 Going closer to the stream I found humpback salmon flopping everywhere, with their eyes gone and other- 

 wise mutilated from the picking and clawing of these birds. I estimated that on this creek alone there 

 were within sight 5,000 fish, either dead or dying, that had never spawned. In southeastern Alaska, in 

 Anan Lagoon, which is supplied by Gray Creek, I noted a similar condition, and picked up many salmon 



