DICE — MAMMALS OF ALASKA 
21 
Microsorex eximius (Osgood) . Alaska Microsorex. — A male was taken Novem- 
ber 17; 1911, in the nigger-heads of the Yukon Valley near Tanana. This speci- 
men was taken in a trap set in a tiny runway through the snow, which as shown by 
the tracks had been used a number of times by the shrew. One was trapped in a 
cabin 10 miles north of Tanana December 30, 1911, and another in the same 
cabin January 15, 1912. 
Ursus alascensis Merriam. Alaska Grizzly. — 'No certain reports of grizzlies 
or brown bears were obtained from the valleys of the Yukon or upper Kuskok- 
wim. A bear, probably of this species, was seen in August, 1912, swimming across 
the Kuskokwim near the mouth of the Aniak River. 
Ursus americanus americanus Pallas. Black Bear, or Cinnamon Bear. — 
Noted at Fairbanks, Tanana, and along the Kuskokwim near the head of the 
North Fork, just above the East Fork, and at Big River. Tracks were found on 
mud-bars, and gravel-bars, in willows and alders along the rivers, in white spruce- 
paper birch forest, and in black spruce forest. Bears are also reported to be 
frequently found in blueberry patches. At Tanana the last fresh bear signs in 
1911 were noted September 10; and at the head of the North Fork of the Kus- 
kokwim the first track in 1912 was found May 7. In May and June signs were 
numerous near camp at this latter place. June 11 most of the bark was torn off 
a white spruce tree about four inches in diameter over a space between four and 
six and one-half feet above the ground. The bear had made no attempt to climb 
the tree, but had merely clawed it. A female killed by natives on the Redlands 
River near Tanana, February 8, 1912, contained 3 embryos, each about 5 inches 
in length. Another female killed about the same time and place contained 2 
embryos of about the same size. 
Canis occidentalis Richardson. Wolf. — Reported to occur in the region north 
of Fort Yukon. Reported only very rarely by trappers from the valleys of the 
Yukon and Kuskokwim and no certain records were obtained. 
Alopex lagopus innuitus (Merriam). Arctic Fox. — One is reported to have 
been taken by a trapper on the Yukon Flats, and it is said by the Indians to 
cross over occasionally from the Arctic slope. 
Vulpes alascensis alascensis Merriam. Alaska Red Fox. — Few in the willows, 
alders, and cottonwoods, and in the white spruce-paper birch forests along the 
Yukon and Tanana Rivers near Tanana. Their tracks were frequently seen in 
snow on the river-bars. On the divides between the Cosna and Kuskokwim, fox 
tracks were very numerous during March, 1912, in the open blueberry and dwarf 
birch areas, and to a less extent in the patches of stunted black spruces. 
Martes americana actuosa (Osgood). Alaska Marten. — Sparsely distributed 
throughout the wooded interior of Alaska. It is reported to occur as far west as 
Georgetown on the Kuskokwim, and Andreafski on the Yukon. Along the main 
streams and in the other more accessible regions it has been almost completely 
trapped out. At the head of the North Fork of the Kuskokwim in March, 1912, 
marten tracks were abundant in the black spruce timber of the low hills, and a 
few were noted in the adjacent blueberry and dwarf birch patches. No tracks 
were noted in winter in the white spruce-paper birch forest along the rivers al- 
though one specimen was taken December 19, 1911, in a growth of young paper 
birch, white spruce, alder, and willows on a low hillside near Tanana. In sum- 
mer, however, martens are reported by trappers to occur commonly in the white 
