THE SMALL FUR-BEARERS 
27 
The five subspecies of the gray fox extend 
throughout the southern United States from 
Florida to California. 
Besides the foxes already mentioned, several 
other species and races are recognized. 
Sanborn, Photo., N. Y. Zoological Park. 
GRAY FOX. 
THE SMALL FUR-BEARERS. 
M ustelidae. 
A majority of the valuable fur-bearing ani- 
mals of North America are found in a group of 
flesh-eaters known as the Marten Family. It 
contains about fifty full species, and its con- 
spicuous types are the following: 
( / These four types are 
Otter ; l marked by long, slen- 
Mink; 7 der bodies, very short 
Weasel; \ legs, flattened heads, 
Marten;/ and general activity 
V on foot. 
FAMILY : \ Wolverine; the greatest glutton 
M ustelidae. i and pest in this Family. 
M Skunk ; aggressive and destructive 
I pests; valuable fur-bearers. 
I Badger; a fat-bodied, inert and 
\ practically harmless burrower. 
The great demand for fur, both for ornament 
and use, has brought about the systematic de- 
struction of all fur-bearing animals. Many spe- 
cies that once were numerous have now become 
very rare. Formerly the wearers of fur ac- 
cepted nothing less desirable than beaver, otter, 
mink and marten. To-day, the fur of the skunk, 
raccoon, fox, lynx, black bear and even the de- 
spised rabbit are in active demand, for garments 
and for trimmings. 
The Otter 1 is as fond of water as a seal, and 
quite as much at home in fresh water as on land. 
Its regular food consists of fish, in the capture 
of which it is very expert. It has webbed feet, 
a thick, pointed tail distinctly flattened for use 
in swimming, and it is clothed with a thick 
coat of very fine, dark brown fur. Strange to 
say, when fairly treated, the Otter is a good- 
tempered animal, tames easily when caught 
young, and makes an interesting pet. In a 
public park, one Otter is worth more to the 
public than twenty beavers. 
In the days when they were numerous, and 
less persecuted than now, it was no uncommon 
thing for a party of Otters to select a steep and 
slippery river-bank, and slide down it repeatedly, 
as small boys slide down hill on sleds, except 
that each slide of the Otter always ended in a 
plunge into the water. 
The Otter of North America still is found oc- 
casionally in Florida and the Carolinas, the Ca- 
nadian provinces, in a few localities in the Rocky 
Mountain region, and from British Columbia to 
central Alaska. Outside of Alaska, its fur is 
taken so rarely that it has ceased to be regarded 
as an article of commerce. Its value alive for 
exhibition purposes is from $10 to $30. The 
length of a large northern Otter, head and body, 
is 27 inches and tail 16 inches. 
The Otter builds no house, but lives in a bank 
burrow, usually under the spreading roots of 
some large tree growing near the water. The 
young are usually two in number. 
The Sea Otter , 2 one of the most valuable of 
all fur-bearing animals, is literally a child of 
the ocean surges and the surf-beaten rocks of the 
rugged north Pacific coast. It is born e + sea 
on a bed of kelp, and literally “rocked in the 
cradle of the deep.” It was formerly found 
from California to the Aleutian Islands, but is 
now very rare except in certain parts of Alaska. 
Here its pursuit is strictly limited by law to 
the natives, to whom it is vitally important, and 
a white man may not kill a Sea Otter except 
under penalty of a fine of $500. 
1 Lu'tra can-a-den'sis. 
2 La' tax lu'tris. 
