BULLETIN NUMBER SIX 23 



"I think I am safe in saying that all the real hunters who 

 get back in the wolf country will agree with me in conclud- 

 ing that the wolves take greater toll of the caribou than 

 man, and many believe that their destruction of deer, moose 

 and sheep equals or is greater than the amount man takes. 



'This country is so vast and the amount of funds avail- 

 able so limited, that it seems almost useless to try to en- 

 force the laws, however good or bad they may be. But we 

 can easily offer a sufficient inducement by way of a bounty 

 on all predatory animals, and it is not so difficult nor ex- 

 pensive to administer such a provision. 



"Under our present bounty law, passed a year ago by 

 the Territory, a wolf skin is brought to the postmaster in 

 the little settled communities with the foreleg bone at- 

 tached. The taker of the animal keeps the skin and the 

 postmaster takes his affidavit, keeping the bone as evidence. 



"It is easier to take a marten or a fox or almost any other 

 kind of a fur animal, and the skin brings on an average 

 more money than a wolf skin. Even with the bounty in- 

 cluded there are many animals at which the trappers can 

 make more money than he can at taking wolves, unless he 

 is permitted to use poison. And in order to collect his 

 bounty he must make oath that the animal was not poi- 

 soned. Would not such an unjust law drive a man to crime? 

 The law against poison is not Territorial, but Federal." 



If the big wolves of Alaska really are increasing almost 

 without let or hindrance, as Mr. Wenrich's information 

 clearly implies, then already the wolf situation is very 

 serious. Moose, sheep and caribou females each bear but 

 one young, annually. The female wolf brings forth from 

 four to seven cubs each year, and each adult wolf will re- 

 quire for its annual subsistence 30 mountain sheep, or 15 

 caribou, or 5 moose. 



The moose and sheep of Alaska exist in small numbers; 

 they are widely scattered, and all save the adult bull moose 

 are easy prey to large wolf packs. Both those species can 

 easily be exterminated by the unrestricted increase of the 

 huge wolves of the North. The caribou exist in far greater 

 numbers, the large herds are more effective in defense 



