122 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1918. 
FEMALE Purs BRANDED, 1896 To 1902. 







Year Number Year Number 
TROG. «20s car occ etek Bue oe eee son ae ee @ 317 || L9OU. cc conc cocees sce scr e meus rece ne eee b 4,173 
LEO ae hoe ca oe Dabo ian en a ne wee G7, 369; |], 1902: sessetet TS Se oe oe oe sesc eee b 1,416 
1898.32, GS been cu ce eee oe has seo b 2,363 ——— 
19005 cee eee lec seh tae tens Seep neeeee b 2,191 Total sooo sscccccccecece eee 19, 587 
FONDS cts oceans olo.cck cape ce oe SOR OM eRe b 1,698 
a Tncluding St. George Island. b St. Paul Island only. 
These branded animals have returned to the rookeries each suc- 
ceeding season up to and including 1918, but since the single bar 
brand was used in many successive years we are not safe in assuming 
that any branded animal bearing this brand was born before 1902. 
This would make the unquestionable age of branded cows seen in 
1918, 16 years. Since the cow brings forth her first young when 3 
years old, this would give her 15 breeding years at least. ‘Thus the 
assumption of a normal old-age death rate of the female of 10 per 
cent per year seems to be if anything too large. 
In 1918 there were observed by Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Crompton, and 
myself six of these brands which may be known as the 1902 series, 
three on St. Paul and three on St. George. Two of these had nursing 
pups. When it is considered that these branded animals passed 
through nine years of relentless pelagic sealing, this is not an 
insignificant number by any means. 
There is little to record regarding the 1912 series of branded cows. 
They were observed on many rookeries and seemed to be normal in 
every respect. 
BREEDING BULLS. 
The count of bulls actually in charge of harems was made complete 
at the usual time—the height of the breeding season. It continues to 
be the most important of all census work, and great care has been 
taken to make it as accurate as possible. The count is attended 
with considerable danger to human life when the rookeries are as 
large as in 1918. In order to get a vantage point from which beach- 
line harems can be seen and counted, it is often necessary to run the 
cordon of idle bulls. A misstep or a fall would likely prove fatal. 
In other places it is necessary to set up a long ladder in order to get 
a view of distant bulls which could not possibly be seen from the 
ground. This ladder must be held by natives, and when a high 
wind is blowing there is considerable danger of it overturning. A 
fall to the jagged rocks below would be serious. Plans are being 
considered for a platform walkway for one of the St. George rook- 
eries, and if it proves a success here the same will probably be 
installed on St. Paul. In some cases when the weather is suitable 
certain rookeries can be counted more accurately from a boat than 
from the land. In this way good counts were obtained on Lagoon, 
Tolstoi, the three Zapadnis, and Sivutch on St. Paul and on Staraya 
Artil and the two East rookeries on St. George. 
The number of breeding bulls is obviously greatly in excess of the 
actual requirements on the rookeries. In addition to these there is a 
large reserve of idle and surplus bulls. 
