90 WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 



which furnish important features of interest. A few would do no 

 serious harm, but the delicate balance of species is not easily main- 

 tained by hard and fast laws of man. Special permits to reliable 

 parties for trapping them in the park during a limited season when 

 they become too numerous would probably control their numbers 

 here, while outside the park there is no danger of their ever becom- 

 ing too abundant. 



Fisher: Martes pennanti (Erxleben). — ^The fisher is many times 

 larger than the marten, with long coarse fur of a black or dark gray 

 color. Although ranging entirely across southern Canada, it is 

 at present a rare animal in any part of the United States. A 

 few are reported in the park, where they are likely to hold their own 

 and through proper protection maintain a remnant of the species for 

 a long time to come. In many years of trapping in the park region 

 in the early days, Walter S. Gibb has caught three of these animals, 

 but some of the old trappers have not secured a skin. Donald Stev- 

 enson reports two skins that were taken by trappers on the Upper 

 Swiftcurrent in 1910, and tracks which he saw on Swan River and 

 South Fork as late as 1912. 



In habits these animals are much like the marten, hunting through 

 the forest country for rabbits, squirrels, and grouse, and ranging 

 over a wide territory. They are expert climbers and are said to pur- 

 sue their prey even through the tree tops in long leaps from tree to 

 tree. Their fur is heavy and soft and overlaid with rather coarse 

 but glossy hairs that render it durable and attractive. It ranks as one 

 of the more valuable furs, partly from its intrinsic qualities and 

 partly from its rarity. 



AVolverine: Gido luscus (Linnaeus). — The wolverine is a sturdy, 

 heavy-bodied animal, with short bushy tail, long coarse hair, and a 

 unique pattern of brown and black, with a yellow band over back and 

 sides. It is the largest of our weasel tribe and has the reputation of 

 being a fierce little beast, ready to fight anything of its own size or 

 many times larger. 



In 1895 I was told by trappers at St. Mary Lake and over the 

 range that there were a few in the region and occasionally one was 

 caught. Ranger Gibb reports a few trapped each year before the 

 park was created, and Stevenson reports one killed by his father on 

 Kennedy Creek in 1902 and tracks seen above St. Mary Lake in 1910. 

 Gird told me of one killed in the Kintla Lake region a few years 

 ago, but Lewis thinks there are none left in the park at present. 

 They are great wanderers, however, and in this forested region one 

 is likely to appear at any time from some neighboring range. 



With their short legs and heavy build they are not expert in the 

 pursuit of live game and to a great extent are scavengers and rob- 



