382 .S7 We TING A D I'/LV TURKS 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Fun ANIMALS. 



Haunts, hal>its, and mode of capturing the wolverine, mink, fisher, martin, 

 ermine, musk-rat, skunk, badger, land and sea otter, i'nr-seal heaver, 

 and showtl An unpleasant adventure while after fur seals Enormous 

 destruction of fur animals Latest statistics. 



ALTHOUGH the greater number of the animals known by this 

 name in the West are not game in the ordinary sense of the word, 

 yet they form so important an article in the commercial world, 

 and are sought after so much by some sportsmen, that I have 

 assumed that a little information about them might be accept- 

 able to those who wished to trap them, or to shoot a few for the 

 purpose of making a robe or a mat. Another reason for intro- 

 ducing them is, that some of them are comparatively little 

 known to the general reader, and that they possess charac- 

 teristics which make them interesting to those who have a taste 

 for Natural History. 



As all the Mustelidee are known as fur animals, I mention 

 them first, and place at their head the wolverine (Gulo litscns}, 

 whose mythical qualities have made it famous among hunters 

 and trappers, and even caused grave naturalists to endow it 

 with characteristics it never possessed. This fabulously gifted 

 creature receives its technical name from its supposed glut- 

 tonous qualities, and while it is true that its appetite is worthy 

 of a gourmand, it is by no means so great as some persons 

 have asserted. 



The statements of old naturalists, that it generally ate so 

 much that its abdomen became swollen to such an extent that 

 it passed between two trees close together to reduce its dimen- 

 sions into something like decent proportions, is on a par with 



