MAMMALS AM) HIKDS OI" ALASKA 



21 



(lams and houses arc particularly abuiuhuit in the Bristol Bay and 

 Knskokwini watersheds. The Ix^avcr popidation of Alaska is well 

 abov(» 200, 000, and the annual cash return r(M'eiv(>d for the ])elts 

 taken b}" trappers amounts to nearly $250,000. 



MUSKRAT 



Aluskrats are the most abundant of all fur animals in Alaska. The 

 annual crop, exceeding 250,000 j)elts, is vahied at more than $220,000. 

 Wherever deltas arc formed, muskrats are found in great inimbcrs 

 (fig. 22). Occasional severe winters that freeze i)onds to the bottom 



Figure 22. — Distribution of the muskrat. 



bring about periods of scarcity, but on the whole the muskrat croj) 

 is very steady. 



LYNX 



The soft, gray fur of the Canadian lynx is a choice item of trade, 

 and when this animal reaches periodic peaks of abundance in Alaska 

 (fig. 23), it serves to bring about a condition of comparative wealth 

 among the trappers. The staple food of the lynx comes from the 

 ranks of the snowshoe hares; hence its numbers fluctuate in response 

 to the rabbit cycle. For instance, the catch was only 318 pelts in 

 1921, but it mounted swiftly to the record high of 10,173 in 1928. 

 The average annual catch over a 16-year period was 3,817 pelts, 

 valued at about $130,000. 



