﻿UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1350 



Washington, D. C. 



October, 1925 



BLUE-FOX FARMING IN ALASKA 



By Frank G. Ashbrook, In Charge Division of Fur Resources ; and Ernest 

 P. WaixKee, Administrative Officer for Alaska; Bureau of Biological 

 Survey ^ 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



What is a blue fox? o 



Brief history of blue-fox farm- 

 ing 4 



Fox-growing- areas in Alaska 5 



Selecting an island or ranch, site 7 



Climate and shade 7 



Location and soil 8 



Harbor facilities 9 



Food supply n 



Water 9 



Island area 10 



Ranch organization 10 



StvTifturos 10 



Trap-feed houses 3 2 



Brppding stock and equipment 15 



Essentials of breeding 16 



Pelts 17 



Conformation 18 



Breeding 18 



Page 

 Essentials of breeding — Continued. 



Time of breeding 19 



Mating 19 



Essentials of feeding 19 



Kinds of feed 20 



Methods of preparing and feeding 21 



Quantity and frequency 23 



Transportation 24 



Pelting 25 



Primeness 25 



Killing 2G 



Skinning 20 



Drying pelts 27 



Characteristics of a good pelt 28 



Losses from depredations 29 



Sanitation and treatment of disease- 29 



Failures and abandonments .SI 



Breeders' associations and ranches- 32 

 White - fox farming in northern 



Alaska 32 



INTRODUCTION 



The production of blue foxes in Alaska is a comparatively new 

 industry, at present confined chiefly to islands along the southern 

 coast, including the Aleutian Chain (fig. 1). It is of particular im- 

 portance to Alaska, since it utilizes outlying islands that are of little 

 or no value for agriculture. 



In island blue-fox raising the foxes are allowed to roam over an 

 entire island, w^here they choose their mates and make their dens. 

 In the early days the foxes had to forage for their food, but now 

 practically all ranchers feed them. This system has proved profit- 

 able, and. together wdth the increased popularity of fur for apparel, 

 has led many persons to lease certain islands from the United States 



1 The writers de«fre to acknowlprlpe the help given in the preparation of thiw bulletin 

 by the mjiny fox farmers of Alaska in furnishing Information of value, and the assist- 

 ance in the section on diseases and parasites given l>y M, C. Hall, of tlio Bureau of 

 Animal Industry. 



47437'— 25- 



