MINOK FUR INDUSTKIES. 119 



Melozitna, Nowitna, and Kuskokwim. In many places it is so rare 

 and so hard to trap that no effort is made to capture it. 



During the year endiag November 15, 1912, land-otter shipments 

 were made from 61 different points in Alaska. The largest number, 

 255, was from Juneau, and the total was 1,480 skins, valued at $20,720. 



In the interior of Alaska the otter feeds largely upon wliitefish, 

 lake herring, and grayling. As these fishes are abundant in most 

 streams, the otter should find plenty of food. 



BEAVER (tENA INDIAN NAME, "nOYA" OR "tSO"). 



There are very few beaver left on the Tanana or its tributaries. 

 Old beaver dams and beaver-cut trees are often seen, but rarely or 

 never a beaver. At the headwaters of the smaller streams one 

 occasionally finds a small family of beaver. On the Kuskokwim 

 and lower Yukon they are not so rare. From Melozitna down to the 

 tundra a good many have been reported in the small streams and 

 ponds back of the hills. One large colony and several small ones are 

 reported on the Tacotna. They are probably more common on the 

 Kuskokwim. 



The first regulations promulgated for the protection of fur animals 

 in Alaska provided a close season for beaver until 1915. The informa- 

 tion obtained by the fur wardens during their first year shows that 

 this will not be adequate, and the close period has therefore been 

 extended to November 1, 1918. The very considerable increase in 

 numbers observed since the close season was established justifies 

 the belief that beaver will be so abundant by 1918 or perhaps 1920 

 as to justify a limited amount of kiUing. 



So far as could be learned the regulation against killing beaver 

 is observed. Now and then an Indian may kill one. Indians are 

 very fond of beaver meat and can not always resist the temptation 

 to kill when opportunity offers. 



lynx (tENA INDIAN NAME, " KAZENA " OR "NODUIHA"). 



The lynx is found throughout the heavily wooded interior of Alaska, 

 especially wherever rabbits are found. When rabbits are abundant 

 lynx are quite common; whenever rabbits are scarce, as is likely to 

 be the case periodically, lynx are rarely seen. Thus they may be 

 common one year in a certam locality and totally absent the next. 



The lower Nenana is at present one of the best lynx countries. 



Wliile lynx feed chiefly on rabbits they will eat other small mam- 

 mals such as squirrels, mice, shrews, and the like; they also destroy 

 a good many birds, especially the ground nesting species. 



The lynx is a stupid animal and easily caught. A common set is 

 as follows: Several rabbits are hung on a small stripped spruce tree, 

 and rabbit skin or old moose hide thrown on the ground under the 



