72 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



The Alaska fur seal herd was estimated at 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 

 in 1873, and had been reduced to about 200,000 by 1911, but with 

 better protection and wiser administration the herd has very materi- 

 ally increased since that time and is no longer threatened with annihila- 

 tion. 51 



There can be no doubt that the supply of furs of some species may 

 be enormously increased by fur farming. Vast tracts of waste lands 

 of various kinds, now unprofitable, may be profitably utilized in raising 

 a number of species of valuable fur-bearers. Muskrat raising in swamp 

 lands has proved highly profitable in some localities, and on uplands 

 other species are being raised in captivity or semi-captivity. What may 

 be done also merely by strict legal protection and scientific control 

 without further care is well shown by the rapid increase in the northern 

 fur seal in recent years, and by the fact that beavers, re-introduced into 

 the former haunts from which they were long ago driven, have soon 

 re-established themselves and formed thriving colonies. There should 

 be no trouble about indefinitely increasing the rabbit supply, and the 

 raising of "Persian lambs" for their pelts is developing into a very im- 

 portant industry. 



Many excellent books and pamphlets on fur farming, 52 give de- 

 tailed information concerning the habits and care of various species, 

 and the equipment and management of fur farms. Success with most of 

 the species yet tried depends upon very thorough knowledge of the 

 habits, the kind and quantity of food required, housing requirements, 

 their diseases and so on, and upon constant and watchful care. Foxes, 

 especially, are very sensitive, and easily worried by strange sights, 

 noises or odors, particularly during the breeding season, and when 

 worried or excited have been known to destroy their own offspring. It 

 is not pleasant to see the life of fox pups, with a potential value of 

 hundreds or thousands of dollars, snuffed out because of a little tem- 

 porary carelessness, before they have had time to attain their possible 

 high value. It is customary on some fox farms to exclude all visitors 



51 Laut, The fur trade of America, pp. 125-133, 1921. Preble, N. Amer. Fauna, 

 No. 46, 1923. Bower and Aller, Ann. Kept. U. S. Comm. Fish, for 1914, Appendix 

 x. Nelson, Scientific Monthly, xvi, 372-373, 1923. 



62 For example : Jones, Fur farming in Canada, pp. 39-40, 1913. Laut, The fur 

 trade of America, p. 56, 1921. Ashbrook, Fur farming for profit, 1928; Fur farming, 

 a growing industry, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric. for 1926, pp. 393-395 ; Recom- 

 mendations for beginners in fur farming, U. S. Biol. Surv., Leaflet No. 27, 1928. 

 Grinnell, Foxes in captivity, Journ. Mammalogy, iv, 184, 1923. Salvesen, Pelsdyr- 

 boken: Handbok i Opdrett av Pelsdyr, Oslo, 1928 (on fur farming). Allen and 

 McLure, Theory and practice in fox ranching, Charlottetown, Pr. Edw. Isl., 1926. 



