- 
ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 333 
General comparison of computations of the seal herd on the Pribiloy Islands, 1925 to 
1936—Continued 









Class 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 
aromupwllSeasas22 2-228 soe 9, 233 10, 088 10, 213 10, 770 11, 547 12, 321 
Breeding COWS. o2-os-----4s2- 358, 642 387, 320 418, 299 451, 751 487, 883 526, 848 
Sunplusibullsass= = 2 sss 3, 291 2, 893 4, 700 6, 494 6, 189 7, 994 
Malego ul sie eo eee ge 1, 888 2, 349 2, 341 2, 282 2, 5385 2, 733 
6-year-oldimiales_-/__S_-2__22_2 6, 553 8, 154 9, 335 8, 173 11,117 11, 421 
5-year-old males___.__._______- 10, 193 11, 669 10, 216 13, 897 14, 276 18, 985 
4-year-old males________-___--- 12, 966 11, 351 15, 441 15, 862 21, 096 23, 991 
3-year-old males___-______.-_-- 13, 198 17, 849 18, 216 24, 770 28, 165 40, 170 
2-year-old males_._.__..------_- 74, 828 81, 101 87, 662 94, 920 102, 555 110, 505 
SECT ad STEN wt (a a 99,612 | - 107, 592 116, 195 125, 490 135, 525 146, 365 
2Qayear-Old CowS= 22422. 2222-25. 78, 410 84, 682 91, 454 98, 768 106, 666 115, 197 
Wearlinpicowss---------- =) - == 99, 626 107, 593 116, 197 125, 490 135, 526 146, 365 
IBUps ees oN) eee 358, 642 387, 320 418, 299 451, 751 487, 883 526, 848 
Movale = eee 1, 127, 082 1, 219, 961 1, 318, 568 1, 430, 418 1, 550, 913 1, 689, 743 
FOXES 
Incidental to the fur-seal industry, several hundred pelts are ob- 
tained each year from sizable herds of blue foxes on St. Paul and St. 
George Islands. The feeding of these animals in the winter months, 
when natural food is scarce, is one of the most important seasonal ac- 
tivities on the islands. The prepared food consists of mush and bis- 
cuits made of cereals, seal meal, and seal oil cooked together. Salted 
seal carcasses also are fed to the foxes on St. George Island. During 
December and January the animals are trapped for their pelts, and 
toward the close of the trapping season a suitable number of those 
captured are marked and released for breeding stock. 
TRAPPING SEASON OF 1936-37 
In the 1936-37 season there were taken 1,012 fox pelts, of which 999 
were blue and 13 white. Ninety-seven blue and 9 white pelts were 
taken on St. Paul Island and 902 blue and 4 white pelts on St. George 
Island. 
There were trapped, marked, and released for breeding stock 54 male 
and 46 female foxes on St. Paul Island and 56 males and 57 females on 
St. George Island. The breeding reserve includes also a considerable 
number of animals that were not captured during the season. 
Although the take of fox pelts on St. Paul Island was the smallest 
for any season since 1928-29, the comparatively large number of 
animals that were marked for the breeding reserve indicates a satis- 
factory condition of the herd. An open winter and an abundance of 
food on the beaches kept the-animals from entering the traps in num- 
bers until late in the killing season. All the trapping on St. Paul 
Island was by means of box traps, as it is believed that the use of steel 
traps in the past has been detrimental to the herd. On St. George 
Island, also, box traps were used chiefly, although the operation of 
steel traps was continued to some extent at Garden Cove and Zapadni. 
REINDEER 
St. Paul Island.—During the year ended September 30, 1936, 37 
reindeer on St. Paul Island were killed and used for food. <A count 
of the animals in the herd on October 5 showed a total of 1,388, of 
which it was estimated that 340 were the young of the season. The 
herd appeared to be in good condition. 
St. George Island.—No reindeer were killed for food on St. George 
Island during the year ending September 30, 1936. A count made on 
