Aug. 19, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
295 
Alaskan Fur-Bearing Animals. 
In their report on the fisheries of Alaska in 
1910, Millard C. Marsh, agent, and John N. Cobb, 
assistant agent at the Alaska Salmon Fisheries, 
include valuable data in relation to the fur-bear¬ 
ing animals of the Territory, from which the 
following is extracted : 
Except in the case of fur seals and sea otters 
no effort has heretofore been made to conserve 
the supply of fur-bearing animals of the district, 
but “an act to protect the seal fisheries of 
Alaska, and for other purposes,’’ approved April 
21, 1910, consigns these resources to the charge 
of the Department of Commerce and Labor. 
In accordance with Section 4 of this law a set 
of regulations have been promulgated by the 
Secretary of Commerce and Labor. 
The following table shows the number and 
value of furs of all kinds shipped from Alaska 
in 1910: 
Number. Value. 
Bear, black . 1,336 $11,841 
Bear, black, stuffed. 1 20 
Bear cubs, black, alive. 6 135 
Bear, black, skulls. 1 10 
Bear, blue . 2 50 
Bear, brown . 33 1,560 
Bear, brown, skulls. 5 35 
Bear, glacier . 4 125 
Bear, grizzly . 6 145 
Bear, polar .;. 56 2,798 
Bear, castors . 65 
Bear galls . 8 2 
Beaver . 2,002 10,568 
Beaver castors . 219 
Coyote . li 6 
Ermine . 3,597 2,921 
Fox, black . 2 700 
Fox, blue . 1,154 20,426 
Fox, blue, live . 5 175 
Fox, cross . 357 2,849 
Fox, grey . 1 100 
Fox, red . 9,370 69,142 
Fox, silver . 53 9,040 
box, silver grey . 113 7,699 
Fox, white . 2,002 20,563 
Hares, arctic . 4 4 
Lynx . 1,049 24,082 
. 5,567 49,351 
Mink . 23,738 108,588 
Muskrat .223,893 75,248 
Otter, land . 1,861 18,549 
Utter, sea . 31 7,170 
Otter pups, sea . 3 37 
Rabbit . 4 4 
Seal, fur .*14,384 *472 249 
Seal, unborn, pup fur!. ’l 21 ’ 12 
Squirrel . 209 46 
Weasel . 109 70 
Wo f .... 78 407 
Wolverine . 110 614 
This table does not take into account the shipments of 
furs by mail, nor of those carried out among the personal 
effects of passengers. 
Beaver..—This is the most valuable fur-bearing 
aquatic animal found in the interior waters of 
Alaska, and has been hunted with such vigor 
that its ultimate extinction seems to be now but 
a question of a few years. The range of this 
animal covers all of the mainland of Alaska, ex¬ 
cepting only the belt of barren coast country 
bordering the Arctic ocean from Point Hope 
north and east to the Canadian line. It is also 
found on a few of the islands in southeast 
Alaska, and generally in the lakes and streams 
of the interior, avoiding the large rivers, owing 
to the great change in level likely to occur at 
different seasons. During the last three years 
a considerable proportion of the supply has come 
from the Kuskokwim and Yukon valleys. The 
Of these 660 skins were from seized Japanese schoon- 
f’J’lOl) Were SOld by the United States marshal for 
■ These were also from the above seized Japanese 
schooners and were sold by the United States marshal. 
natives catch beavers in steel traps set at a fre¬ 
quented spot or shoot them from a concealed 
place near the beaver house or dam. 
Castoreum, an oily odorous compound secreted 
by the preputial glands of the animal, also the 
dried preputial follicles and their contents, are 
sometimes prepared and find a sale in China, 
where they occupy a place in the pharmacopoeia. 
In 1905, 1,935 skins; in 1906, 1,536; 1907, 1,159; 
1908, 1,280; 1909, 2,323, and in 1910, 2,002 skins 
were secured. 
Muskrat.—This animal is found on the main¬ 
land, except along the extreme northern coast 
line wherever bogs and ponds or running water 
occur. It is also found upon Nunivak and St. 
Michaels islands. The Kuskokwim and Yukon 
valleys, especially the former, furnish the vast 
majority of the output. The natives also use a 
large number each year for clothing and in 
barter with other native tribes. The value of 
muskrat has been steadily increasing during the 
last three years, and as a result the animal has 
been hunted more vigorously each season. In 
1905, 12,599 skins, valued at $1,192; in 1906, 3,611 
skins, valued at $302; in igo7, 6,481 skins, valued 
at $498; in 1908, 31.712 skins, valued at $6,257; 
in 1909, 121,568 skins, valued at $34,074, while in 
1910, 223,893 skins, valued at $75,248, were se¬ 
cured and shipped from the district. This takes 
no account of the local trade in skins between 
the different tribes. 
Land Otter.—This species is widely distributed 
in Alaska, being found on nearly every part of 
the mainland. It also occurs on many of the 
islands. A steel trap is generally used in cap¬ 
turing the animals. The supply of land otter 
skins is fairly constant from year to year. 
Sea Otter.—But two vessels, the schooner 
Everett Hays, owned by Samuel Applegate, of 
L'nalaska, and the schooner Elvira (formerly 
the Japanese sealing schooner Kinsei Maru), 
owned by Fred Schroeder, of Dutch Harbor, 
fitted out for sea otter hunting in 1910. The 
hunting is generally carried on between Chirikof 
and Tugidak islands (the latter one of the 
Trinity Islands) in Central Alaska, and the sea¬ 
son is from about May 15 to Sept. 1, depend¬ 
ing largely upon the state of the weather. This 
year the weather was very rough and as a re¬ 
sult there were only about four days of actual 
hunting throughout the whole season. Everett 
Hays secured four skins, while Elvira took 
twelve, a total of sixteen. 
A few natives living at Kayak this year 
hunted for sea otter off Cape . St. Elias, and on 
June 7 shot two, and on June 15, one. These 
skins were sold at the nearby town of Katalla. 
Nils Christensen, of Cold Bay, on the A'aska 
Peninsula, hunts sea otters in winter along the 
reefs offshore, but secured nothing last winter. 
The same was true of Charles Rosenberg, who 
patrols a stretch of some thirty miles of beach 
on the Bering Sea side of Unimak Island on 
the lookout for dead sea otter which may be 
washed ashore. 
This summer a native killed a sea otter near 
the Naknek River in Bristol Bay, where they are 
very rarely to be found. One was also killed 
in the neighborhood of Unga Island in Central 
Alaska. 
The Canadian sealing fleet again devoted a 
considerable part of its energies to the hunting 
of sea otter off Chirikof Island. The schooner 
Thos. F. Bayard secured two, while the Pescawha 
secured seven. 
Several vessels from the Japanese sealing fleet 
also engaged in sea otter hunting, but with what 
success we are unable to state, owing to their 
secretiveness in such matters. 
Fur Seal—The only place on the coast of 
Alaska which maintains a fur seal fishery is 
Sitka. In April and May the herd passes 
Baranof Island, on which Sitka is located on its 
way to the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea to 
breed. About the middle of April the native 
hunters, who are the only persons permitted to 
engage in the work, with their families leave for 
the hunting grounds and establish their camps 
on Tava, Wrangell and Biorka islands, small 
islands a few miles from Sitka. 
This year ten boat parties had their head¬ 
quarters on Biorka Island, four on Wrangell 
Island and eighteen on Tava Island. Each boat 
party is composed of from three to five men, 
and these use sailboats costing about $130 each. 
Repeating shotguns, costing from $25 to $35 
each, are the only weapons used. The hunting 
is done in the open ocean, and the boats from 
the various camps cover an area of from thirty- 
five to fifty miles directly out from shore and 
about the same distance up and down the coast. 
Good weather is essential, and in 1910 the 
natives were unfortunate, bad weather being 
frequent, with the result that the catch was very 
small. 
This year 135 skins were taken and sold at a 
price aggregating $4,117 (price paid the hunters 
and not the London price). In numbers this is 
a big decrease from last year, when the natives 
secured 396 skins. Prices received for the skins 
averaged much higher than in 1909, when $18.60 
was received per skin, as compared with $30.50 
this year. 
The Biorka Island parties secured fifty skins, 
the Wrangell Island parties thirteen and the 
Tava Island parties seventy-two. The largest 
number secured by any one boat was eight. 
In outfitting these boats the hunter who is 
head man furnishes the boat and gun, while the 
rowers furnish the ammunition and food. The 
gross proceeds arising from the sale of the skins 
taken are divided equally among the crew, with 
the exception of the hunter, who gets $3 or $4 
more than the others. 
The hunting parties return to Sitka the latter 
part of May. A committee of two is then ap¬ 
pointed to supervise the sale of the skins, which 
usually takes place on a date between June 1 and 
5, when the buyers from the States have reached 
Sitka. On sale day the skins are all brought to 
one house, where they are sorted into three 
sizes — “small,” “medium” and “large” — care 
being taken to keep each boat’s catch separate 
from the others. The small skins are those of 
the pups born during the previous two years. 
The medium skins are said to have the best fur, 
but the buyers prefer the large ones on account 
of their size. The buyers are not allowed to 
pick out the choice skins and bid on these alone, 
but must take them as they run, the subdivision 
in the beginning being made merely in order 
that buyers may see what they are bidding on. 
