MINOR FUR INDUSTRIES. 121 



6 feet in diameter. In these huge piles the squirrels sometimes 

 place bunches of green cones for future use. 



Their nests are usually built of moss and sometimes lined with 

 feathers. The nest is globular and placed on a branch 10 to 20 feet 

 above the ground. Several nests often occur in one tree. Whether 

 the squirrels kill and eat small birds may be questioned, though 

 bones and feathers of birds are often found in their kitchenmiddens. 



Although the skin of the red squirrel is of little commercial value 

 at present, the fur is of good quality and, with the decreasing abun- 

 dance of other furs, will doubtless soon be in greater demand. The 

 total number shipped from Alaska last year was 611, which number 

 doubtless included spermophiles or ground squirrels, as well as red 

 squirrels. * 



CARIBOU. 



Caribou occur in considerable numbers in the rutting season on the 

 divides and in the valleys between Fairbanks and Circle, but none 

 within 70 or 80 miles of Fairbanks. The principal caribou country- 

 is in the region of the Chena hot springs, Wood River, Kantishna, 

 and Bonnifield country. They are found, however, on nearly all 

 the slopes and tundra plateaus of interior Alaska. They are not 

 found in the Bering coast tundra nor on the Yukon below Koyukuk. 



The high plateaus over which the caribou range in winter are of 

 wide extent. In walking over these plateaus one can see where the 

 caribou have pawed up the snow to get at the moss beneath, but the 

 animals themselves are not easily seen. Large numbers of caribou 

 are killed by the big game hunters and pot hunters. Usually the 

 killing is done after cold weather begins, when the carcasses can be 

 frozen and cached until marketed. Often, however, large numbers 

 are killed too early, the expected freezing weather does not come in 

 time, and the carcasses spoil before they can be marketed. 



The skins of the caribou make excellent sleeping bags and a few 

 are shipped or utilized locally every year for that purpose. 



TRAPPERS AND HUNTERS AND THEIR METHODS. 



Hunting and trapping fur-bearing animals is carried on by both 

 white men and Indians. The white men engaging in this business 

 are of two classes, first, those who devote all or most of their time 

 to trapping during the open season, and, second, those who are 

 primarily prospectors and trap only incidentally. The trapper must 

 be able to endure the rigors and hardships of the long winter, but he 

 must also be able to stand the life of isolation. Often he lives alone 

 and it may be 50 to 100 miles to the nearest neighbor. Usually, 

 however, two men trap together. 



While some trappers do not start for the trapping region until after 

 snowfall, when they can travel with dog team, many others start out 



