244 NATURAL HISTOEY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



Biographical notes. — The Marten or Sable is a tree-frequenting species and rarely strays beyond 

 the borders of the northern coniferous forests. Wherever such forests occur in Alaska this animal is 

 more or less common. The lack of trees on the Aleutian and other islands of Bering Sea renders 

 them unknown in these localities, and also in the treeless belt of country bordering the coast of 

 Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The Martens follow the spruce forests, however, where the latter 

 reach the coast at the head of Norton Sound in Bering Sea, and at the head of Kotzebue Sound in 

 the Arctic Ocean. They are also found on Kadiak and the other wooded islands on the Pacific coast 

 of the Territory. Prom the luxuriant pine forests of the coast in Southeast Alaska, north to the 

 patches of dwarfed black spruces fringing the barren tundra in latitude 68° to 69°, and from the 

 vicinity of Bering Straits east to the British boundary line, the Marten is one of the most abundant 

 and valuable fur- producers of the Territory. In Northern Alaska they are most numerous in the in- 

 terior away from the dwarfed trees and scraggy vegetation, so general wherever the coast district 

 is approached in this part of the north. Their tracks are sometimes seen about clumps of bushes 

 miles from the nearest tree, but this is very unusual. 



Those skins obtained nearest the coast in Northern Alaska are lighter colored, and have shorter, 

 harsher fur than those from farther inland, and a gradual change is readily noted from the region 

 nearest Bering Sea, back to the headwaters of the Yukon. In the latter district and the adjacent 

 interior of Alaska and British America their fur is long, silky, and dark colored in contrast with 

 that of skins obtained nearer the coast. 



It should be noted that the spruce forests, with two or three exceptions, do not approach the 

 coast of Bering Sea and the Arctic within from 10 to 50 miles. 



The martens of the heavily-wooded portions of Southeistern Alaska are long-haired and 

 darker than those from the Upper Yukon. Marten-skins are prime from the 1st of November 

 until April. During the first part of winter, however, very few are taken, as the frequent storms 

 and short days render trapping too uncertain. 



The Indians, and such Eskimo as live within the tree-limit, go out to trap in February and early 

 March. Each man has a certain district allotted him, which he keeps by common consent from 

 year to year, and in this district he sets a series of " figure-four " deadfalls, extending in some 

 instances over a circuit of 30 or 40 miles. An energetic hunter usually has so many traps that it 

 requires from two to three days to make a circuit. On the best ground a round is made once in 

 from four to six days, and at the end of the season one hunter can rarely count over fifty skins while 

 the majority have less than a dozen each. 



For these skins the natives receive about one dollar's worth of goods from the traders. Along 

 the Yukon and the region tributary to it from five to six thousand skins are taken annually. 

 Martens are sometimes hunted with a small dog. The dog follows the fresh trail and trees the 

 animal, and the hunter, following on snow-shoes, shoots it through the head so that the skin is not 

 injured. 



As is the case with most furs, marten-skins are not ready to be made up until they have passed 

 through the dyer's hands. The amount of variation in color among these animals is remarkable, 

 and passes from the rich chestnut or blackish brown of ordinary specimens to the creamy white of 

 the albinos that are brought in at times. The most striking variety is of a beautiful rich orange- 

 reddish, which sometimes covers the entire animal, but is more often confined to the posterior half. 



Their food consists of mice, small birds, and other game of that character, and necessitates 

 great activity during the winter months. At this season their broad-footed tracks are plentiful in 

 the woods of the interior, but without a dog one has little chance of overtaking one on foot. When 

 cornered or wounded they fight savagely and with effect for so small a beast. 



According to the imperfect returns obtained from the traders there have been shipped from 

 all Alaska, between 1867 and 1880, 105,920 marten-skins, a number considerably below the true 

 one owing to lack of records in many cases. 



