3 i4 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY 



Vulpes fuhus, being perhaps the most widely distributed and 

 generally known. The black fox, or the silver gray fox, is a 

 variety of the red fox that is wholly black except the tip of the 

 tail, which is white. These are the most valuable for fur, 

 single skins selling at from $500 to $1000, and extra fine ones 

 sometimes bringing $2000 to $2500. The Arctic fox, Vulpes 

 lagoptis, is white all the year around in its northern range, but 

 further south it is darker and is known as the blue fox. The 

 white skins are worth $10 to $12, the blue skins two to four 

 times as much. In Alaska successful attempts have been made 

 to rear these foxes in captivity. Less success has so far re- 

 warded the efforts to breed the black or silver fox, as it is much 

 more shy and must have game for its food, refusing to take the 

 food prepared for it as does the blue fox. Doubtless, however, 

 further experiments will show how it may be handled and 

 bred successfully in large restricted areas. 



The family Mustelidce includes several of our most valuable 

 fur-bearing animals, many of which are, however, now nearly 

 exterminated. The otter, mink, ferret, weasel and martin all 

 have long slender bodies and very short legs. The otter, Lutra 

 canadensis, used to be common along many of our streams but 

 is now rarely found except in the far north. The fur of the sea 

 otter, Latax lutris, is now most valuable and rare. Specimens 

 are still taken occasionally along the Alaska coast. Minks, 

 Lutreola spp., are still rather common, occurring along the 

 banks of many of our streams. There are several species of 

 weasels, the most common one of which, Putorius erminea, is 

 often called the ermine. It is brown in summer and white in 

 winter. Weasels are often serious pests of the poultry yards, 

 for they usually kill many more chickens or ducks or geese 

 than they can eat. They do some good on the farm by catch- 

 ing rats and field mice. 



The wolverine, or skunk-bear, Gulo luscus, looks not unlike a 

 large skunk or a badger except that it is without stripes. 

 It occurs throughout the west and north, and is often 

 called glutton, on account of its habit of eating almost any- 

 thing it can find and seemingly maliciously destroying much 

 else. The skunks, Mephitis spp., and Spilogale spp., are well 



