156 



THE BEASTS OF PREY 



to consider cedar nuts desirable food, for the major- 

 ity of the Sables that Radde caught had their stom- 

 achs quite full of these nuts. 



Hunting the The hunting and capturing of Sables 

 Sable for sets the whole male population of cer- 

 its Fur. tain tribes annually in motion and causes 

 merchants to travel thousands of miles. Steller, and 

 later the Russian Stshukin, inform us that the largest 

 number of Sables are still found in the gloomy for- 

 ests between the Lena and the Eastern Sea, and the 

 product of their furs is still the greatest source of 

 income to the natives as well as to the Russian 

 settlers. The hunting season lasts from October to 

 the middle of November or the beginning of Decem- 

 ber. The hunters assemble in small groups on the 

 hunting grounds, where every association has its own 

 dwelling; and during the journey the Dogs have to 

 draw the sledges, packed with provisions for several 

 months. The hunt is still conducted essentially in 

 the same manner as described by Steller. Traps and 

 nooses of the most varied descriptions are put out; 

 the spoor of the Sable is followed on snow-shoes, the 

 animal's hiding-place is surrounded by nets, and 

 the fleeing Sable is killed by arrows or with a gun. 

 The most popular method is to use traps that catch 

 the animal without damaging the fur. The hunter 

 and his associates spend several days in constructing 

 all the traps, and often enough, when he looks for a 

 victim on his daily visit, he finds that an impudent 

 Arctic Fox or some other Beast of Prey has eaten the 

 precious booty. Or a storm may come along and 

 compel the poor man to look out for his own safety 

 without thinking of disentangling the captive animal. 

 In this way Sable-hunting is really a series of contin- 

 uous troubles. 



How Sables There are, even at this late da}-, very 



Behave When few accounts about the life of Sables 

 Tamed. j n captivity. One specimen was kept 



in the palace of the archbishop of Tobolsk and was 

 so completely tamed that it was allowed to walk 

 about the town at its own will. Other tamed Sables 

 played very merrily together, sat upon their hind 

 legs in order to fight more effectually, jumped 

 around in the cage, wagged their tails when they 

 felt comfortable and expressed their anger by grunt- 

 ing and growling like young Dogs. 



The American 1" the northeast and extreme 

 Sable a north of North America the Sa- 



Northem Variety. y e genus is represented by the 

 American Sable (Musfe/a americana) . It is eighteen 

 inches long, exclusive of the tail, which measures 

 seven inches, and is more closely allied to the Pine 

 Marten than to the Sable. Its color is a uniform 

 brown, except that the patch on the breast is yellow 

 and the head and ears are gray or white. The hair 

 is considerably coarser than that of the Sable and is 

 of about the same quality as that of the Pine Mar- 

 ten. 



The finest pelts of this species come from the 

 shores of the Hudson Bay, the country around the 

 Little and Great Whale rivers, eastern Maine and 

 Labrador. According to Lomer about 100,000 pelts 

 are annually sold from the region named, and from 

 30,000 to 30,000 come from Alaska, very fine pelts 

 commanding a price of about nineteen dollars each. 



The Fisher The Fisher Marten is a native of the 



Marten, or same region of country. It is called 



Pekan. Pekan in Canada and Wijack by the 



Indians, and is also known as Pennant's Marten 



( Mustela pennantii). It is a large, thick-set, Fox-like 



animal, whose body measures over twenty -four 



inches ; the tail from twelve to fourteen inches. 

 The fur consists of a thick, fine, lustrous outer coat 

 and a long, soft, woolly under fur. Its color is, as 

 a rule, very dark, or even black, and only the 

 head, nape of the neck and back show an admixture 

 of gray ; but there are also individual members of 

 this species that are very light, chestnut or light 

 brown or even yellowish white. 



The range of the Fisher extends over the whole 

 north of America. In his habits he resembles dif- 

 ferent species of his relatives. His usual habita- 

 tions are caverns, which he excavates near river 

 banks. His food is said to consist mainly of quad- 

 rupeds living near the water. These animals are 

 hunted by young Indians who find in this viciously 

 biting creature an antagonist which can test their 

 courage, while at the same time the} - are not ex- 

 posed to as much danger as are the Men of their 

 tribe who hunt the grim Bear. Lomer says that 

 there is hardly another fur so well adapted for 

 Men's clothing, and the pelt is highly esteemed in 

 northern American countries as well as in Russia, 

 commanding a price from eight to fifteen or even as 

 high as twenty dollars, a coat made from this fur 

 costing as high as from three hundred to one thou- 

 sand dollars. Comparatively few of these furs reach 

 the European market ; the number may be about 

 twelve thousand annually, and they are known com- 

 mercially under the name of Virginian Polecat. 



THE WEASEL GROUP. 



"Putorius" or "Fcetorius" (each meaning "foul- 

 smelling") is the name given to another group, in 

 honor of the renowned Polecat, which certainly de- 

 serves this designation, while other members of the 

 group do not. The animals belonging to this group 

 are distinguished by a head that tapers in a marked 

 degree toward the sharp snout; short, rounded, 

 three-sided ears; a slender, elongated body; short 

 legs provided with long-toed feet, and a round tail, 

 clothed with rather long hair, which does not at- 

 tain half the length of the body. 



Description The Polecat (Putorius foetidus) attains a 

 of the length of body of from sixteen to sev- 

 Polecat. enteen inches and a length of tail of 

 six inches. The fur is of a uniform brownish black 

 color below, while the upper parts and the sides are 

 lighter, usually of a dark chestnut tinge; and the 

 upper part of the neck is also lighter, the shorter, 

 yellowish woolly coat being nearer the surface in 

 these parts of the fur. A red-brown band, indis- 

 tinctly defined, runs lengthwise under the body; and 

 the chin and tip of the snout are of a yellowish- 

 white tint, with the exception of the dark nose. 

 Above the eyes there is a yellowish white spot, fad- 

 ing at its edges, and uniting with an indistinct band 

 beginning below the ears. There are variations in 

 coloring which have by some been considered as 

 marking distinct species; and yellow or white Pole- 

 cats have also been observed. In the female all 

 those parts of the fur which are yellow in the male 

 are of a pure white. The fur of the species is thick, 

 but it is much less beautiful than that of the Pine 

 Marten. 

 The Tiger Pole- The Polecat has a kinsman, the Tiger 



cat.aSepa- Polecat (Putorius sarmaticus), which in- 



rate Variety, habits southeastern Europe, extending 

 as far north as Poland, and several parts of western 

 Asia; and it is of frequent occurrence in southern 

 Afghanistan, especially around Kandahar. Its mode 

 of life is identical with that of the common Polecat. 



