234 



NORTH AMERICAN PAUNA. 



[NO. 27. 



Putorius rixosus Bangs. Least Weasel. 



This diminutive weasel is found probably throughout the wooded 

 portion of the region. Since its slender body enables this species to 

 enter the burrows of the small rodents with ease, it must constitute 

 one of their worst enemies. 



We first took this interesting species at Fort Smith, trapping an 

 immature but full-grown male on June 21, 1901. It was taken in a 

 mouse trap set in a runway of Microtus xanthognathus. 



This specimen measured : Total length 195 ; tail vertebrae 38 ; hind 

 foot 22. Another specimen, an adult male, was taken by Alfred E. 

 Preble at Fort Resolution on July 13. It was trapped in a Microtus 

 runway in a garden near the post, and measured 190, 38, 23. It is in a 

 lig-^liter, more worn pelage than the younger specimen. 



During my trip in 1903 I took no specimens of this species, but 

 diminutive weasel tracks seen at a number of points on the Mackenzie 

 between Fort Norman and Fort Simpson in October were stated to 

 belong to this species by my Indian canoeman, who seemed familiar 

 with the animal. At Fort Simpson also I saw tracks so small that 

 they could have been made by no other species. The animals had 

 burrowed into the snow, and the tiny holes thus made also pointed to 

 this slender species as the probable author. Fcav of the white resi- 

 dents in the north know of such an animal, and I never saw a skin at 

 any of the trading posts. Probably its small size and the fact that 

 the tail lacks the black tip, making it of little value as ' ermine,' pre- 

 vent the natives from taking the trouble to preserve skins. 



A skin from Fort Resolution, probably the one recorded by Coues 

 under the name Putorius vulgaris^^ is now in the National Museum. 



Mustela americana actuosa Osgood. Alaska Marten. 



The marten is rather common throughout the forest belt of the 

 Athabaska and Mackenzie regions. It varies greatly in color, being 

 more or less subject to melanism throughout this area. The ' dark ' 

 martens are more highly prized than the lighter ones, and bring a 

 higher price, sometimes as much as four or five times the value of 

 ordinary skins. Independent of this individual variation, which may 

 occur anywhere within the range of the animal, but which is more 

 frequent in some districts than in others, marten skins average darker j 

 in southern than in northern portions of the region. Thus average j 

 skins from the lower Mackenzie are much paler than those from the 

 Athabaska, Slave, and Liard rivers, and consequently bring a lower 

 price. Sufficient material from the lower Mackenzie and the Great 

 Bear Lake region has been examined to show fairly well the range of 

 color in that region. Material from Alberta and southern Mac- 



« Fur Bearing Animals, p. 104, 1877. 



