212 THEOUGH THE ]\1ACKENZIE BASIN 



Eraser Lake post contributed about one-half of the number. 

 It is said that the sexes come together in , the months of 

 February and March, and that the female produces from 

 four to seven young, which for a time are blind and rather 

 weak and helpless. In May, 1885, I sent the skins of two 

 young skunks, secured shortly before by an Indian near 

 Eort Chipewyan, Lake Athabasca, and captured south of 

 the place, to Dr. Kobert Bell, of the Canada Geological Sur- 

 vey at Ottawa. 



Badgeb — Taxidea taxus (Schreber). 



Sir John Richardson gives latitude 55° north as the limit 

 of this animal's northern range. It used to be fairly 

 abundant in the prairie regions, but as these are settled it 

 is gradually diminishing in numbers. If it ever extended 

 as far as the Peace River it must have been many years 

 ago, as not a single example has ibeen traded by the Com- 

 pany in that quarter since 1858 (I have no earlier data), 

 but elsewhere to the south they collected a total of 39,579 

 skins between 1853 and 1877. The best three years were 

 1870 with 2,445, 1873 with 2,705, and 1876 with 2,274 

 skins and the three lowest 1854 with 886, 1857 with 871, 

 and 1867 with only 597 skins. In 1902 and 1903, respect- 

 ively, the London sales amounted to 1,141 and 824 skins. 



The female badger has from three to five at a birth, and 

 they are said to be, like most maminals, bom blind and 

 helpless. Mr. Donald Gunn, of the Red River Settlement, 

 Manitoba, was misinformed when he wrote that the Indian 

 name for badger was Weenusk. This, I believe, is the 

 native (Cree) name for Arctomys monax, and Mistunusk for 

 the badger. In 1889, Isle a la Crosse and Green Lake each 

 traded one badger skin, and the latter one also in 1890. 



Raccoon — Procyon lotor (Linnseus). 



According to the Company's twenty-five years' statement 

 (1853-1877), they sold a total of 99,179 raccoon skins in the 



