ANNUAL REPORT, 1943-44 11 



According to records which have been assembled in the Department there 

 were 32,266 beaver taken during these periods of open season and it has been 

 estimated that they had a value of $1,222,558.74 to the trappers concerned. As com- 

 pared with the figures for the preceding year there was an increase of 33% in the 

 catch and, by reason of an increase in market prices, the valuation increased 57 

 per cent. 



FISHER: — There are only a few sections of the Province in which these animals are 

 to be found and they are extremely scarce throughout. Very few are taken, and 

 reports would indicate there was no improvement in conditions or increase in their 

 numbers during the period reviewed in this report. 



FOX: — These animals were reported to be quite plentiful in most areas throughout 

 the Province, and were quite evidently increasing. There were many complaints 

 received in the Department to the effect that foxes were responsible for much serious 

 damage to flocks of domestic poultry. This condition also resulted in considerable 

 losses among the more desirable game birds. Many township municipal councils 

 continued to pay a bounty on foxes killed within their respective boundaries, and 

 conditions were so serious that it was found necessary to provide a regulation to 

 temporarily rescind the enforcement of legislation which had existed for the protec- 

 tion of this species, and the taking of foxes at all periods of the year and the use 

 of dogs for the hunting of foxes was allowed without the usual permit in the Coun- 

 ties of Brant, Durham, Elgin, Essex, Haldimand, Halton, Huron, Kent, Lambton, 

 Lincoln, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Oxford, Peel, Perth, Prince Edward, 

 Waterloo, Welland, Wellington, Wentworth and York. There were 53,205 red foxes 

 destroyed during the period covered by this report, respective increases of 22,000 

 over the previous year and more than 38,000 when compared with the figures for 

 the fiscal period which ended March 31st, 1941. 



LYNX: — These animals are extremely scarce throughout Ontario, and in the south- 

 ern portion of the Province they are practically extinct. There is no indication from 

 any section that their numbers are increasing, and but few are taken by trappers. 



MARTEN: — As in the case of Fisher and Lynx, this species has become extremely 

 scarce. There are but few evidences of their existence south of the French and 

 Mattawa Rivers, and there is no noticeable increase in any part of Northern Ontario 

 in which they are reported to exist. The number taken in trapping operations is 

 very limited. 



MINK: — This is one of the more pevalent species of desirable fur-bearing animal 

 from the standpoint of the trapper. Conditions continued to be quite favorable dur- 

 ing the period under review though there was not much in the way of change re- 

 ported from any particular section. According to statistics assembled by the Depart- 

 ment it would appear that payments received by trappers generally from the sale 

 of Mink pelts are exceeded only by returns from the sale of muskrat and beaver 

 pelts. 



MUSKRAT: — This species is found in varying numbers practically throughout On- 

 tario, and, while but little improvement has been reported, from the trapping of 

 these animals during the open seasons was derived a very substantial percentage of 

 the trappers' revenue. The open season is provided by regulation, and the periods 

 which prevail in various divisions are established to coincide with the prevalence of 

 suitable weather conditions in these respective divisions. It has been estimated that 

 the value of the muskrat pelts which were taken during the open season which 

 prevailed during the fiscal year 1943-44 was in excess of $2,150,000.00 or more 

 than 37% of the value of all the furs taken in trapping operations and marketed 

 during year. 



OTTER: — ^Conditions as they apply to this species cannot be described as better 

 than fair, and there was no improvement reported. They are extremely scarce 

 throughout the southern portion of the Province, and while they are somewhat 



