RABBITS AND LYNXES 



97 



pellets; but we saw not one Woodrabbit and heard only 

 a vague report of 3 that an Indian claimed he had seen 

 in a remote part of the region late in the fall. 



Then, since the Lynx is the logical apex of a pyramid 

 of Rabbits, it naturally goes, down when the Rabbits 

 are removed. 



These bobtailed cats are actually starving and ready 

 to enter any kind of a trap or snare that carries a bait. 

 The slaughter of Lynxes in its relation to the Rabbit 

 supply is shown by the H. B. Company fur returns 

 as follows : 



In 1900, number of skins taken . 



" 1901 " " " 



" 1902 " " " 



" 1903 " " " 



" 1904 " ' 



" 1905 " ' 



" 1906 " ' 



" 1907 " ' 



" 1908 " ' 



4,473 



5,781 



9,117 



19,267 



36,116 



58,850 



61,388 



36,201 



9,664 



Remembering, then, that the last of the Rabbits were 

 wiped out in the winter of 1906-7, it will be understood 

 that there were thousands of starving Lynxes roaming 

 about the country. The number that we saw, and their 

 conditions, all helped to emphasise the dire story of 

 plague and famine. 



Some of my notes are as follows: 



May 18th, Athabaska River, on roof of a trapper's 

 hut found the bodies of 30 Lynxes. 



