COYOTE 



When the Arctic Fox goes out on the ice in winter it follows 

 the Polar Bear and after this big hunter has fed on a Seal it 

 feasts on what is left. This Fox does not hibernate and 

 because of the difficulty of finding food the year around has 

 developed the habit of storing such food as can not be eaten at 

 once. Large numbers of Lemmings are killed and piled up in 

 crevices in the rocks and other food supplies are hoarded 

 against a day of want. The Arctic Fox will eat almost any- 

 thing in the way of animal life, killing what it can itself, but 

 taking what it finds killed for it. It is cannibalistic and does 

 not hesitate to eat one of its own kind that is caught in a trap 

 or disabled. 



In disposition the White Fox is much more confiding and 

 friendly than its more southerly relatives. It has a weak, dog- 

 like bark or yelp and is not afraid to utter it when man appears. 

 On the Pribilof Islands these Foxes are said to be very tame 

 and to approach closely to parties which visit their home 

 territory. This animal is largely nocturnal, but in a region 

 where the normal relation of day to night runs such a wide 

 range, it must be active to some extent by day as well. It is a 

 very easy animal to trap and since the fur is deep and soft, 

 it is taken in considerable numbers. The Blue Fox is es- 

 pecially valuable and prime skins have brought prices of $ioo 

 to $200 apiece in boom years. On some of the islands in 

 Bering Sea these Foxes are reared for the fur market. 



The young are generally born in June, the full season 

 ranging from May to July, and number from one to eleven, 

 with four or five as the average. The home den is located 

 amongst the rocks or in burrows in sandy places. 



Genus Canis^ 



Dentition: Incisors, f ; Canines, |; Premolars, | ; Molars, f =42. 



Coyote. — Canis latrans 



and related forms 

 Names.— Coyote; Prairie Wolf. Plate XIV. 

 General Description.— A small, slender Wolf (total length 

 about 42 to 48 inches) resembling a Shepherd Dog in many 



^ The Coyotes have been revised by C. H., Merriam, Proceedings 

 of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol. xi, pp. 19-33, 1897, but the 

 much more abundant material on hand today would justify new revision. 



149 



