OCT., 1900] MAMMALS OF THE YUKON REGION. 41 



Vulpes fulvus (Desmarest) 'i Red Fox. 



Occasional reports of foxes were received all along our route, l)ut no 

 specimens were secured. Owing to their natural sagacity, foxes are 

 doubtless able to hold their own against trappers better than most other 

 fur- bearing animals. Their skins are quite common among traders 

 and natives. 



Vulpes hallensis Merriam. Hall Island Fox. 



Vulpes hallensis Merriam, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., II, 1.5-16, March 14, 1900. 



White fox skins are common among the natives and traders at St. 

 Michael, and could be bought at from $1 to $4 each, according to 

 quality. During our stay there one of the animals was seen on the 

 island, which indicates that they are still far from extermination. 



TJrsus americanus Pallas. Black Bear. 



Black and l)rown bears are common all along the Yukon. We found 

 them conunon on the upper river, and Nelson records them as far down 

 as Anvik. We saw tracks very frequently, but owing to the thick 

 forest and underbrush, and the fact that we made no special hunts for 

 them, the animals themselves were rarely observed. A young adult 

 female in glossy black pelage was killed at Glacier by A. G. Maddren, 

 and several others were seen during our stay there. I was told at 

 Lake Lebarge and at White Horse Rapids that brown l)ears were seen 

 very frequently. At Fort Selkirk I saw skins brought from the Pell}^ 

 River. Near Charlie Village I saw the skin of a large brown bear 

 that had been killed there shortly before our arrival. One afternoon 

 while sitting in the boat preparing specimens, about 20 miles above 

 Circle, I saw a good-sized black })ear walking deliberately across an 

 open space on a hillside a short distance away. We gave chase, but 

 did not see it again. At the mouth of the Tatondu River I saw 

 numerous tracks, and on the border of a stagnant pool found evidences 

 that bruin had been enjoying a mud bath. Moss uprooted hy })ears in 

 digging for roots was noticed at several places. 



TJrsus horribilis alascensis Merriam. Alaska Grizzly Bear. 



Very little accurate information is obtainable in regard to the grizzly 

 in the Yukon region. It doubtless occurs sparingly all along the river, 

 but miners and prospectors report any large bear as a grizzly, and 

 without doubt often mistake the brown bear for it. There are a num- 

 ber of its skulls from Norton Sound in the Biological Survej^ collection. 



Lutra canadensis (Schreber). American Otter. 



The fate of the otter in Alaska is much the same as that of the bea- 

 ver. There are doubtless a few on some of the smaller streams of the 

 interior and about the Yukon delta, l)ut they are now quite rare in 

 comparison with their former u1)uiidance. 



