FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 127 



tical with the red fox, of which they are in some cases the offspring. 

 Still either the black or silver if mated together usually breed true. 

 The cross fox is merely a dark form of the red with considerably more 

 •valuable fur. By selecting the darkest individuals to breed from and 

 ^continuing the selection an increasingly valuable strain doubtless could 

 be obtained. 



Foxes taken when young and carefully raised in captivity become 

 tame and usually breed if properly paired. The red foxes as well as 

 the Arctic or blue fox are evidently strictly monogamous 



BLUE OR ARCTIC FOXES 



Many of the islands in Alaska have been leased or taken possession 

 of for fox farming. Some of these islands were already inhabited by 

 blue foxes and others were stocked with them, mainly from St. George 

 Island, where the best fur was found. 



As shown by the report of the Harrimau Alaska Expedition, Vol. 

 II., p. 357, 1901, and by a more recent account in Forest and Stream 

 for July 26, 1906, by T. E. Ilofer, these foxes are thriving and yield- 

 ing considerable fur. On some islands they secure their own food and 

 are merely guarded and trapped by those in charge. On most of the 

 islands, however, they are fed for part or all of the year, but their wild 

 life has undergone little or no change. They appear to be naturally 

 rather tame and with proj)€r care could doubtless be thoroughly domes- 

 ticated. 



They breed when a year old, pair for breeding and have usuallv 

 four to eight young at a litter. Prime skins are quoted at $20 to $25. 



OTTER 



Few wild animals thrive better in close confinement than otter. 

 Given a small pen with a pool of water they seem com])aratively con- 

 tented and happy. They become very tame and are playful and in- 

 telligent. There are many accounts of their being so domesticated as to 

 follow their master, come at his call and even catch fish and bring them 

 out of the water for him. They are not easily trapped, and are quite 

 able to hold their own against the encroachment of civilization. They 

 probably are as common to-day near the District of Coliin\l>ia as they are 

 over most of their range, which reaches from Florida to AIa.>^ka. They 

 can be readily ciulosed ])y a simple wire-mCv^^h fence taking in a sec- 

 tion of a stroaiii. 'I'hcv do nol clirid) or l)nrrow to anv extent. Their 



