190S.] 



MAMMALS. 



217 



Vulpes alascensis abietorum Merriam. British Columbia Eecl Fox. 



A series of skulls collected on the Athabaska at Little Buffalo 

 Eiver and Fort ^NIcMurrav. and on Slave Kiver 10 and 15 miles 

 below the Peace and at Smith Landing, are referable to V. a. 

 aljietorum, agreeing well with skulls from Stuart Lake, British Co- 

 lumbia, the type locality of this form. Skulls collected by J. Alden 

 Loring in Alberta at Whitemud and Prairie Creek, and at Pierre 

 Grey's camp, 10 miles northeast of Jasper House, are also referable 

 to ahktorum. 



Foxes are rather common in the Athabaska and Slave Eiver val- 

 leys. T\"e obtained no skins of adults, but took a young one on the 

 lower Athabaska. May 30, 1903. It was one of a family living among 

 drift timber near the river bank. During the early winter the Peace- 

 Athabaska delta is a favorite trapping ground. The foxes are said 

 to be attracted by the large numbers of woimded ducks and geese 

 which escape during the fall hunt. Upward of 50 black and silver 

 foxes, in addition to large numbers of skins in the red and cross 

 phases, a large proportion taken in the immediate region, have been 

 traded at Fort Chipewyan during a single season. 



Early in June, 1901, we found a den in spruce woods on a large 

 island near the head of Rocher River. Well-worn paths leading 

 away in various directions showed where the mother fox made fre- 

 quent excursions for food, and the numerous remains of rabbits, 

 ducks, and grouse formed an index to the results of her labors. The 

 same den was tenanted when we revisited the spot two years later. 

 While descending Slave River in June, 1903, we found the homes 

 of several families of foxes on the right bank about 100 miles below 

 Fort Smith. The old ones eluded us, but a half-grown young one 

 was secured. The various individuals seen were in the normal and 

 cross phases. Owing to the lack of skins of foxes from this region 

 I am unable to describe in detail the color of the normal or red 

 phase. All imaginable shades of gradation occur, from the red 

 phase through the various shades classed as ' cross ' to the ' silver,' 

 with white-tipped hairs, and the pure black, fine specimens of which 

 sometimes bring several hundred dollars a skin. 



Vulpes lagopus innuitus ]\Ierriam. Continental Arctic Fox. 



This sj^ecies occurs in summer throughout the Barren Grounds 

 and the islands of the Arctic Sea. In winter many of the animals 

 migrate southward in search of food, the extent of this wandering 

 varying greatly with the amount of snow and from other causes. 

 During the winter of 1900-1901, the snowfall being light, they pene- 

 trated much farther south than for many years previously. We saw a 

 number of skins which were taken during that winter in the vicinity 

 of Fort Smith, where they had not appeared for several years. They 



