WEASEL FAMILY 
(M ustelidae) 
HE weasel family includes the mink, marten, otter, weasel, fisher, 
wolverene, sea-otter, skunk and badger, all of which are very 
valuable for their fur. The Russian sable, sea-otter, Hudson Bay 
sable, ermine, black marten, fisher, Alaska sable, otter and mink, 
are derived from the animals mentioned above and are among the most 
expensive furs. Russian sable skins are frequently sold at $500 or more. 
Area for area, they cost more than silver fox, as some sable skins 
are only about eight inches long, exclusive of the five-inch tail. 
The pelt of the wild sea-otter brings a higher price, on the average, 
than the wild silver fox. The Hudson Bay, or American marten 
sometimes has almost as beautiful fur as the Siberian, but the finest 
pelts sell for less than $100. The Canadian weasel, or ermine, is usu- 
ally inferior to the Russian, often having a yellowish white or gray 
colour. The most expensive mink pelts are those from the Laurentian 
plateau. The price of fisher skins has recently advanced greatly and 
prime skins sell for as much as $75 each. The price of skunk pelts 
has also advanced and black skins from northern districts now biing 
from $4 to $8 for the finest specimens. 
If the domestication of the marten, fisher, otter, mink and 
skunk, or, in other words, the family of the mustelidae, were accom- 
plished, there is no doubt that a market for more than ten million dol- 
lars worth of raw fur annually could be found. The annual production 
of all American pelts is between twenty-five and fifty million dollars, 
and the above-mentioned family, with the Siberian marten included, 
would supply a large proportion of the demand for high-priced furs— 
probably well over fifty per cent. It is worth noting in this connec- 
tion that the recently established fur-farming experiment stations in 
the United States will experiment first with this family of animals. 
They will probably keep the marten and the mink, these two being con- 
sidered by experts among the most desirable for domestication. 
MINK 
(Putorius Vison) 
There are two well-known species which resemble each other closely 
the European mink or marsh otter of Europe (P. lutreola) and the 
American mink (P. vison). The latter is found over a large portion 
of North America, the finest and darkest being the small minks of 
