spoiJbed before I cot It <mt of the mountains. The silver fox 

 is v;orn by the ncbility as well ao the royalty of Ihirope. 



Of course you all know about the *oon plenty of them 

 in this forest and not so bad for a ohea^ fur If ta!:en In the 

 olcl season. It is worth fron vl.50 to $3.00. 



Badgers are moro numerous in the higher reaches of this 

 Forest tlian Is usually supposed. Their pelts are v/orth from 

 one co two dollars each, the hair beinc; uae exclusively in the 

 manufacture of shaving brushes. 



The otter, a valuable fur-bearer, is found en the main 

 streams of this Porest the Merced, San Joaruin and Hings 

 besides on those of the mountain lakes that are well stocked 

 vrlth fish. ?ish Is his only food and he prefers to do his own 

 fishing, refusing to take bait of .any kind, though a water anim- 

 al he travels long distances by land. He is web- footed, and you 

 simply cannot wet even a dead one. The fur is fine and dark, 

 usually bringing from $12 to /SO a pelt, raw. 



The "mountain beaver" or "blue beaver" is an Interesting 

 little creature of no market value for fur. He is very shy, 

 working at night to collect his barlr and roots. Ke has a shorter 

 tall than the mustrat but Is about the same size. 



Cf the weasel tribe, we have on this Porest the weasel proper 

 che mink, civet oat, marten, ring-tall, fisher and wolverine, 

 listed in order of size. The weasel is about the size of a small 

 squirrel; the wolverine weighs about 50 pounds. I have caught a 

 number of each of this tribe on this sorest. The -'isher is the 

 most valuable, the skin being worth s)E5. The marten brings 315, 

 the wolverine ;AO, the mink $5, the skunk $1.75, the weasel - 

 white - ;.75; ring- tail 0.50 and civet }.E5 Of course these are 

 "befo 1 de wah" prices. The whole tribe is peculiar in its weapon 

 of defense, Mother Nature ha vine provided each of them with scent 

 glands, no two alike but all offensive and effective. ?hat of th' 

 wolverines is perhaps the worst but I won't be positive it is 

 merely a matter of taste, or rather snell. They are all 3AD. But 

 aside from the otter and the best fozes they are the highest 

 priced furs to be found on this Porest, and all are now in demand 



HEADQUARTERS HEtfS 



Assistant District fforester Headley, Chief of Operation for 

 District 5, reached Horthfork on L&y 10 and staid on the Sierra 

 for several weeks. Mr.Headley has not before spent so much time 

 on this Porest. T-hile here he not only went over the plans for 

 future development, and the personnel files, but inspected the 

 Euntington lake and Casoada special use areac, and the proposed 

 rite of the Siapson Ileadow bridge. Incidentally he saw mu^li of 

 the way In which the forest is handled, both from the Su->e \ J 



-6- 



