Oct. 19, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
489 
Island Big Game of the North Pacific 
N ATURALISTS and big-game hunters who 
read Charles Sheldon’s “Wilderness of 
the Upper Yukon” will rejoice to learn 
that another book from his pen has just come 
from the press. This he calls “The Wilderness 
of the North Pacific Coast Islands,” and has 
just been published by Chas. Scribner’s Sons.* 
The volume is a fitting sequel to his earlier 
work, and gives a hunter’s experiences while 
searching for wapiti, bears and caribou on the 
larger coast island of British Columbia and 
Alaska. It is handsomely made and beautifully 
illustrated. 
In this, book, Mr. Sheldon deals with a num¬ 
ber of new, or very little known, species of big 
game—the elk of Vancouver Island, the bears 
of Montague Island, the bears of Admiralty 
Island, and the little known caribou of the Queen 
Charlotte Islands, so long vainly sought for by 
many observers, and at last found merely by 
accident, as noted in Forest and Stream several 
years ago. As in previous years, Mr. Sheldon 
records trips of success and trips of failure. 
All of them have this in common—they are 
marked by tremendously hard physical work in 
the face of many obstacles; by keen, close obser¬ 
vation in natural history; by the joy of wander¬ 
ing among some of the most beautiful and wild¬ 
est scenery of the continent, and are devoted to 
the bringing together of many new facts of 
great interest. 
All Mr. Sheldon's work has been done in 
the interest of science, for though best known 
to many people as a big-game hunter, he has for 
years devoted his hunting trips almost wholly to 
gathering material for the Biological Survey at 
Washington. His hunting trips, therefore, are 
much more than mere pleasure excursions, and 
as is well known, he has added a great store of 
facts to our knowledge of the bears and of the 
wild sheep of Alaska. Yet his observations are 
not confined merely to the game he hunts. He 
has brought home much information concerning 
Alaska birds, and in the present volume con¬ 
tributes information gathered from an old sea 
otter hunter concerning the habits of that valu¬ 
able, but now almost extinct, fur-bearer. He 
transcribes from his notes the following para¬ 
graphs : 
“Sea otters have young any month of the 
year. Swanson has seen them in all seasons with 
young of the same age. The female otter gives 
birth to only one pup, and lying on her back in 
the water carries it on her breast. When it is 
old enough to be fed, she breaks clams and shell 
fish with her teeth and inserts food in the young 
one’s mouth. When she dives for food, she 
leaves the young one on top of the water The 
pup must be six months old to feed itself, and 
stays with the mother for a year. Sea otters 
feed on clams, crabs, sea urchins, mussels, kelp 
and shellfish, diving from five to thirty fathoms 
or more to get them. They range for feeding 
about sixty miles. They ha^e special feeding 
grounds in shallow water, on ‘banks’ or near 
the shore and feed at night. In the day they 
go offshore, often thirty miles or more, and 
*The Wilderness of the North Pacific Coast Islands, 
by Charles Sheldon. Illustrated. Charles Scribner’s 
Sons, New York, 1912. Price, $2.00 net. 
sleep. They seem to have well defined ranges 
over which they feed, and though they may be 
temporarily driven away by too much hunting, 
sooner or later they return to the familiar feed¬ 
ing ground. Swanson was uncertain as to how 
often they feed, but the native chief of the 
hunters told me it was only one day in two or 
three; I am inclined to think he himself is not 
certain. 
"Sea otters always travel by swimming on 
top of the water, on their sides, back or belly, 
and sometimes seem to leap along. Formerly 
they went into inlets; now they always remain 
outside. In rough and heavy weather they come 
close to shore, often in the surf, where they 
play, lying on their backs, jumping, turning 
somersaults, chasing each other and racing. In 
calm weather they are never seen playing. When 
one is seen, it is usually sleeping. Natives say 
they have seen four or five sleeping at the same 
time. Often several—sometimes as many as 
forty—have been seen together, and when so con¬ 
gregated, they are never asleep. When sleeping, 
one of these animals looks like a black drift stick 
with its extremities out of water. The head and 
hind flippers are always a little out; the body 
submerged. They cannot 
stay under water for more 
than five minutes without 
coming up to breathe. 
Their vision is like that of 
a seal their ears and nose 
very keen. Being very shy, 
they are afraid of whales 
and sea lions, and always 
leave when those mammals 
are around. Swanson has 
several times tried to keep 
the young alive, but soon 
they refuse to eat and 
starve to death. The fur 
is equally good through the 
whole year. Sometimes, 
especially in August an old 
otter will have an inch of 
fat on it. 
“Later I discussed all 
these points with the native 
chief of the hunters, who 
added nothing, and verified 
all, SO' far as he could un¬ 
derstand me, except that he 
affirmed that the sea otter 
does not hear well, while 
Swanson insists that it 
does. They are steadily de¬ 
creasing; males and fe¬ 
males are killed in about 
even numbers. 
“To hunt them success¬ 
fully the weather must be 
calm, the sea smooth and 
without much swell. LTnder 
such conditions the natives 
can hunt them at any time 
of the year. Outside of 
Prince William Sound, 
June and July are the be-t 
months. At other times 
the weather is so uncertain 
that the natives do not venture out hunt¬ 
ing, except to make an occasional attempt 
during the latter part of April and May. From 
eight to ten bidarkas is the best number for a 
hunting party. If there are less than eight, the 
chances are proportionately less; if more than 
ten, two parties are usually made up. Two 
natives must always be in a bidarka, and it is 
better to have three. The reason is that speed, 
sustained by steady paddling is needed, and 
when an otter is seen, the man ahead must stop 
and hold his rifle ready to shoot while the 
others paddle. Only the head man shoots, and 
if he must keep paddling, his hand and aim be¬ 
come unsteady. 
“The natives know the feeding grounds. 
Sometimes they paddle offshore to these and re¬ 
main there all night, so as to be on the spot 
early, as soon as they can see. More often they 
camp on shore, and leave in time to reach the 
feeding grounds by 3 a. m., often having to 
paddle ten or more miles to do so. There is 
always a chief of the hunters, appointed by 
Swanson, who directs the hunt. They form the 
bidarkas in a wide semi-circle and advance, keep¬ 
ing a sharp lookout for the sleeping or swim- 
TIIE MONTAGUE ISLAND BEAR. 
From drawing by Carl Kungius. 
