KO.1405. MAMMALS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORIES— MACFaRLAXE. 709 



FISHER. 



Mustela peimnntl Erxlelien. 



It is very seldom, indeed, that an example of this species is found 

 ])eyond latitude 62 north in the Mackenzie River region, or any other 

 part of America. 1 never knew of an}' l)eino- taken at Fort Simpson, 

 while the very few skins received there were trapped ])y Indians in 

 the forest country some distance to the south; but on the upper Peace 

 River, and in the country farther south, east, and west, on both sides 

 of the Rocky Mountains, the tisher is fairly numerous. 



The male and female are said to come together annually in the 

 months of Februar}-, March, or April, according to locality, and the 

 offspring vary between one and live in number. They are born ])lind 

 and helpless, but soon acquire sight and strength. They nest in a hole 

 in the g-round. Some say the male assists in rearing the 3'oung, but 

 others deny the truth of this assertion. They subsist on rabbits, tish, 

 and mice. Mr. Colin Thomson states that for winter consumption 

 the}' provide quantities of "'hips" in advance. 



It may be mentioned that from 1863 to 1883 Mackenzie River dis- 

 trict traded the skins of 331 tishers. More than three-fourths were 

 obtained from Indians resorting to Fort Resolution, who hunt to the 

 south of Great Slave Lake, as well as along the Slave River, the bal- 

 ance coming from natives belonging to Forts Simpson, Providence, 

 Liard, Halkett (abandoned), and Nelson. The last post (latitude 59° 

 north) had one skin for each of the outtits 1886, 1887, and 1881). 

 Fort Providence had one and Fort Simpson six examples in 1889. For 

 the period J858 to 1884, Athabasca district turned out 5,138 tishers. 

 The average trade for the live succeeding outtits (1885 to 1889) would 

 be about 100 skins less a year, after making due allowance for the 

 gain by the Resolution transfer and the loss of the four upper Peace 

 River posts (constituted a new district in 1878). The contribution of 

 the latter for 1889 was 122. That of the stations added thereto (taken 

 from Edmonton) was as follows: White Fish Lake gave 33, Sturgeon 

 Lake 20, Trout Lake 20, and Lesser Slave Lake 61 skins for the same 

 year. English River district, by its posts at Isle a la Crosse, Portage 

 La Loche, and Green Lake supplied 63, 18, and 18 skins, respectively, 

 for 1889, and 22, 19, and 31 skins, respectively, in 1890. The district 

 of New Caledonia, British Colum])ia, gave an average of about 300 

 skins a year for the years 1885 to 1881), while Fort St. James, Stuai't 

 Lake, and Frazer Lake always headed the list in nearly equal quanti- 

 ties; the other posts, except Bal)ine, made up the balance with nuich 

 smaller quotas. Then we have Cumi)erland district, with a total of 195 

 skins for 1888 and 216 in 1889; ))ut with the exception that Cumber- 

 land House had 51 and 12 skins for the two years, respectively, I can 

 not give details as to where the rest of the lots came from. Mr. P. 



