Table 1. — Abbreviated chronology of the fur seal breeding season. 



Date 



Comments 



Mid-May First territorial adult males arrive. 



Late May First juvenile males arrive along beaches and on haulout 



grounds. Best time to capture adult males on territory. 



Early June First females arrive and form small groups along water's edge. 



Arrival of new territorial males decreases sharply. 



Mid-June Large juvenUe males appear around periphery of breeding 



areas; number of juvenile males on hauling grounds increases. 



Late June Females far enough inland and births are frequent enough to 



allow female captures (noose method) on inland borders of 

 breeding areas. 



5 July Peak of pupping season; best time to capture adult females 



using noose method. 



12-15 July Peak of copulations. 



25 July Births too infrequent and females too wary to permit captures 



with a noose. Use hoop net technique. Territorial males aban- 

 don territories and can be captured by hoop net; 2-yr-old 

 juvenile males arrive. 



Early August Small adult males begin short tenures on territories. Mass cap- 



tures of females and pups is now possible. Females begin to 

 appear on hauling grounds. 



Late August Many females on hauling grounds, most large males absent. 



Late August, Yearling juvenile males arrive; older juveniles move onto 



early September breeding areas. All pups of the year entering the sea. 



Mid-September Virtually all males absent, no territorial structure. 



Mid-October Females begin to wean pups of the year and leave the island for 



the season. 



Mid-November Very few animals remain. 



equipment can exploit this fact. Third, despite their lack of lateral 

 power, their biting motions are quickest in that direction. Exercise 

 extreme caution while working around the necks, ears, or front flip- 

 pers of unrestrained seals. Last, when they bite they usually make a 

 single tearing slash at the very surface of their target. People handling 

 northern fur seals are spared some injury by wearing loose-fitting 

 rain clothing which the seals bite first. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF EQUIPMENT 



Noose Pole (or Choker) (Fig. 1) 



meters. For holding seals motionless a restraint bar is recommended 

 (described below). 



The poles are most frequently cut from 4 cm x 4 cm clear fir (2 in 

 X 2 in dimension lumber) of varying lengths determined by the 

 application. Corners of the lumber are beveled to an octagonal shape 

 to reduce weight and improve the grip. The rope forming the noose is 

 typically 1 cm (3/8 in ) hemp. The rope is threaded through two holes 

 drilled 15-23 cm (6-9 in) apart near the end of the pole and knotted on 

 the opposite side. The rope loop is 95-105 cm (38-42 in) long, pro- 

 viding a loop 45-50 cm (18-20 in) deep. 



In making chokers, a balance is struck between weight and 

 strength; good quality lumber is essential. Breakage usually occurs in 

 poles with knots. Animals snapping at the choker or noose may bite 

 through the rope or gradually chew away the end of the choker pole, 

 so that it is weakened or the rope noose may pull out. For these rea- 

 sons it is advisable to have a spare choker on hand. Also for these 

 reasons it is not advisable to use the metal nooses (commercially 

 available) used to handle dogs. For restraining animals already con- 

 tained in a holding pen or transport box, a 2-2.5 m (6-8 ft) long 

 choker provides a good combination of physical control, safe work- 

 ing distance, and convenience for working in confined spaces. 

 Longer chokers (up to 5 m) are used for other applications, such as 

 capturing adult females on the rookery. 



Bamboo Poles 



These are used in varying lengths for fending off aggressive ani- 

 mals or for herding groups of animals. Poles 5 m long are appropriate 

 for adult males, but shorter lengths may be used when working with 

 smaller animals. The bamboo provides a good combination of light 

 weight and high compression strength. The best defense with these 

 poles is a pushing or jabbing motion aimed at the chest or throat. 



Diagonal wraps of fiber glass (strapping) tape with considerable 

 overlap at the ends of the pole, but with 5-10 cm between wraps near 

 the middle add strength to the pole and gready decrease splitting. 

 Bamboo stored in a dry, heated building may split badly enough to be 

 useless. With a lightweight cord loop at one end, a bamboo pole 

 makes an effective long choker for snaring fur seal pups. 



This is the most broadly applicable gear used in handling fur seals. 

 It consists of a loop of rope at the end of a light-weight pole. The loop 

 goes over the animals head and is twisted tighdy by rotating the pole 

 around its long axis. When properly applied the choker prevents the 

 animal from fleeing or attacking. It allows a single person to restrict 

 the movements of seals weighing up to 60-65 kg. including adult 

 females and 3-4 yr-old males. A second person grasping the hind flip- 

 pers is required for lifting the animal or moving it more than a few 



15-22 cm 

 I 1 



Rope 



1 cm diameter 



95-110 cnf long 



Figure 1 .—A noose pole or choker used to control small fur seals. The open loop 

 is placed over the animal's head and the handle is rotated until the loop tightens 

 around the seal's neck. See also Figure 10. 



Restraint Bar (or Board) (Fig. 2) 



This device is used for holding small animals stationary, by 

 restraining the head so that marks or tags can be applied, harnesses 

 can be fitted, or other physical manipulations accomplished without 

 danger of the workers being bitten. The restraint bar consists of a 

 heavy wooden plank, and a wooden yoke in the shape of an upright 

 U. A metal bar is attached with a pivot at one end of the plank so that 

 the bar can close down on the plank scissors-fashion. The bar has an 

 inverted U or yoke near its center which fits over the animal's neck 

 and into the wooden yolk to form a circle around the animal's neck 

 when the bar is closed. Both the wooden yoke and the U shape in the 

 metal bar may be fairly broad, typically 18 cm wide and 13 cm deep 

 (7 x 5 in). When the bar is closed, the opening between the bar and 

 the wooden yoke should be about 10 cm (4 in). The wooden yoke is 

 generally made of two pieces of 5 cm (2 in) dimension lumber laid 

 out parallel on the base plank about 2.5-5 cm (1-2 in) apart, so that 

 when the metal bar closes down, it falls between the two wooden 

 yoke pieces and can lie flat against the base plank. The plank is 5 x 

 20 cm (2 x 8 in) dimension lumber. The bar is made from 2 cm 

 inside diameter iron pipe (3/4 in plumbing stock) or thick-walled 

 electrical conduit. Metal conduit is much more easily bent to the 

 sharp curves necessary: kinks in the pipe drastically reduce the 

 strength and life-span of the ban 



