THE KILL ABLE CLASS. 229 



haul out upon those grounds, and of them only the 3 and 4 year olds 

 are taken for their skins. 



The only seals killed for their pelts are those immature males that 

 haul out upon the hauling- grounds remote from the breeding grounds, 

 and the handling of them causes no disturbance to the breeding females. 

 The number of bachelors permitted to betaken in anyone season is en- 

 tirely w.thin the control of the Treasury Department, which control has 

 been exercised during the past two years for the enormous reduction of 

 the annual quota. 



The seals killed on the islands for their skins are s. N. Buynitsky, p. 21. 

 these bachelors, those of from 2 to 4 years old be- 

 ing carefully selected. 



The three-year-old male has meanwhile landed on the hauling grounds 

 and is now of the most available age to kill for 

 his pelt. Samuel Falconer, p. 156. 



The bachelors are the seals which are killed by the lessees of the is- 

 lands, the killable age being from 2 to 5 years; 

 all seals which are not males or which are not of Louis Kimmel,p. 173. 

 the correct age are separated from those to be 

 killed, and allowed to return to the water. 



We used to kill pups for food in November, and then we had to ex- 

 amine the sex and kill none but males. The 

 Government has forbidden us to kill any more mcoli Krukoff, p. 133. 

 pups and we get other meat instead. 



A suggestion was made to the Secretary of the Treasury in the fall 

 of 1885 that some old bulls should be killed, but 

 the Secretary declined to permit such animals to Abial P. Loud, p. 38. 

 be destroyed. 



The age at which the male seal should be killed for his skin to best 

 meet the present demands of the market, is 3 and 

 4 years old. It is, of course, as with other animals, H> S- Mclnti/re, p. 58. 

 impossible to say m every case just how old a seal 



is, but in the large majority of eases an experienced seal-killer will de- 

 termine with accuracy from the size of the animal, the growth of hair 

 upon the neck, and the length and size of the canine teeth. 



The sex of the yearlings is not easily determined unless the animal 

 is caught and examined. The shape, size, and 

 color of the two sexes are very closely alike at this H H. Molntyre, p. 59. 

 age. At 2 years old it is less difficult, and there 



is very little risk in assuming that all those found at this age with the 

 nonbreeders are males, because all, or nearly all, the females at 2 years 

 old consort with the breeding seals upon the rookeries. In the last two 

 years of the Alaska Commercial Company's lease of the sealeries large 

 numbers of 2-year-old seals were killed under my direction, but never, 

 to my knowledge, any females of this age. 



The "bachelors" of from 2 to 5 years old are the only seals driven or 

 killed on the seal islands by anyone or for any 

 purpose; and the sensational stories told of how L. A. Noyes, p. 82. 

 they are " tortured " on the drive have no founda- 

 in fact. 



