XIV.-PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS IN THE BRANDING AND HERDING OF 



THE SEALS. 



By David Starr Jordan and Gborge Archibald Clark. 



In his report for 1895 Mr. F. W. True made certain suggestions as to ways and 

 means of remedying the condition of the fur-seal herd. One of these was to brand 

 the seals either with a property mark on the flipper or with such a mark on the back 

 as would destroy the value of the skin. Another plan was to drive the seals back 

 from the rookeries in August and confine them in the salt lagoon and certain fresh- 

 water lakes, where they could be held during the sealing season. 



With these suggestions in mind, in the autumn of 1896 the present commission 

 undertook to test these plans and determine by actual experiment their feasibility. 

 These experiments we may consider somewhat in detail. 



THE BRANDING OF THE SEALS. 



The commission was fortunate in having as a special assistant Ool. Joseph Murray, 

 whose former residence as a Treasury agent on the islands made him familiar with the 

 handling of the seals and whose experience in the branding of cattle enabled him to 

 understand the practical workings of the plan of branding. He was from the outset 

 an enthusiastic advocate of branding and had unbounded faith in its success. To 

 his judgment and supervision therefore the experiments of the commission in this 

 direction were intrusted. 



^:At-the outset it was decided that a mere property mark would not answer the 

 immediate needs of the situation and would be of doubtful value. Accordingly, the 

 experiments were directed toward so marking the skins as to destroy their value, know- 

 ing that a mark accomplishing this result would prove quite as effective as a property 

 mark. Naturally the branding was limited to the females. Here again it became at 

 once apparent that the older animals could not be handled with safety on account of 

 their viciousness and the difflculty in controlling them. The work therefore finally 

 resolved itself into the branding of the female pups. 



It was found possible in the month of September to drive up the pups and handle 

 them just as the older seals are handled in the killing season. The smaller size of the 

 pups made it possible to catch and hold them without danger or difficulty. With 

 this work the Aleuts found themselves at once familiar. For twenty years prior to 

 1890 it had been customary for them to drive up from 10,000 to 15,000 pups from cer- 

 tain rookeries and sort out the sexes to secure the 5,000 males to be killed for winter 

 food. This process was identical with that necessary for branding, and at the outset 



laid at rest the question of the possibility of handling the pups. 



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