1014 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 26, 1909. 
Blue Fox Propagation. 
The domestication and propagation of wild 
animals is constantly becoming more and more 
a matter of general interest. We have pointed 
this out many times, beginning something like 
thirty-five years ago, and within a year or two 
the Department of Agriculture has issued at 
least two bulletins on this subject, one treating 
of silver fox farming, the other* of deer farm¬ 
ing. At various points in the country people are 
believed to be raising foxes for profit, and we 
hear of “skunk farms,” “minkeries” and even 
“beaver ranches,” though as to these latter we 
confess to some scepticism. For a long time, 
however, efforts have been made to propagate 
the Alaska blue fox for profit, and a number 
of islands have been leased by the Government 
to be used as fox farms. No one as yet has 
made a fortune by raising foxes, yet for all we 
know success may be nearer than is anticipated. 
At the meeting of the Biological Society, held 
last winter, an interesting paper was read by 
James Judge on “The Blue Foxes of the Pribilof 
Islands.” In substance the paper is as follows: 
The blue foxes of the Pribilof Islands are 
supposed to have come from the mainland of 
Alaska on the ice with which Bering Sea is 
filled during winter. The caves and subter¬ 
ranean passages left by the volcanic upheaval 
furnish the foxes with homes. 
In summer the bird life affords an abundance- 
of choice fox food, and when the birds depart 
in the fall, the animals subsist on the wash of 
the beach and on the bodies of seals or sea 
lions which have either been killed or died dur¬ 
ing the preceding summer. Until 1890 this was 
ample. Then, however, the lessened seal and 
sea lion catches reduced the winter food supply 
and many foxes died of starvation. The dead 
were eaten by the survivors, and so the death 
rate was not noticed. 
Since 1896 all seal meat not used by the natives 
on St. George Island has been salted, and the 
following winter freshened and fed to the foxes. 
The seal meat, being insufficient in quantity, has 
been supplemented by dried or salt fish. 
Coincident with the regular feeding begun in 
1897 the old methods of trapping were aban¬ 
doned. These consisted of death traps, so-called, 
and steel traps, and a method of taking foxes 
from their burrows. The method of trapping 
now in vogue consists of capturing the animals 
in a large cage, in which the food intended for 
them is placed. Upon capture the animals are 
subjected to a rigid examination and all unde¬ 
sirable ones are killed. Males left for breeding 
purposes must weigh at least 10 pounds and 
females at least 7J4 pounds, and must be either 
young or in the prime of life. In taking the 
live weights a strap is looped around the tail 
and the beast suspended from a spring balance 
attached to the ceiling of the building. The 
age is determined by an examination of the 
teeth. This is done by inserting a soft gag in 
the mouth and inspecting the teeth at close 
range. Those dismissed as breeders are branded 
by cutting a ring in the fur of the tail, males 
being branded near the end, females near the 
base. The men handling the' foxes use heavy 
leather mittens. 
On post-mortem examination of the animals 
killed in trapping, the stomachs are found to 
contain in addition to the bait taken in the trap. 
grass, feathers, wild parsnip, fish bones, bird 
or seal bones, dirt or sand, and occasionally 
tunicates, sea eggs and fox fur. The intestines 
vary between six and ten feet in length and 
were found to carry grass, feathers, wild pars¬ 
nip, dirt, gravel, bones and sometimes tunicates 
and fox fur. 
The males usually have weighed between 8^2 
and pounds, and the females between 6 
and iil 4 pounds. Male skins when ready for 
market measure on an average 30 inches in 
length and ii in breadth; the females are about 
one inch shorter and an inch narrower. The 
tails of both sexes are about the same length; 
about 15 inches. As a rule the fur of the fe¬ 
male is inferior to that of the male, and among 
the males the best fur is found on those two and 
three years old. 
The breeding season is confined to March and 
the first of April, and the young are born in 
litters of from five to twelve in May and early 
June. Birth is given on the surface of the 
ground, but shortly afterward the mother trans¬ 
fers the young to some place under ground, 
from which they do not emerge until they are 
several weeks old. While the birth rate is large, 
the mortality among the young is very great, as 
only about two per female, on an average, reach 
maturity. They are born blind and weigh about 
2B2 ounces each. The eyes open on the fifteenth 
day, by which time the head and the tail take 
on a fox-like appearance. The teeth come 
through at or shortly after the eyes open. 
Occasionally a white fox is found in a litter 
of blue. Since 1897 ^ continuous effort has been 
made to exterminate white foxes, and results 
indicate that in time this will be accomplished, 
or at least that the white strain will be reduced 
to a minimum. 
Evidence of diseases is scanty. Two cases 
of tuberculosis, one of uremic poisoning and 
thirteen cases of mange have been discovered. 
From the evidence at hand the males seem better 
able to survive adverse climatic or other con¬ 
ditions than the females. 
It is generally thought that the animals pair 
for breeding purposes, but there is only one 
authentic case of paired foxes jointly engaged 
in feeding and guarding the same litter of 
young. The different methods of branding have 
shown that foxes often seen playing together 
in the spring are of the same sex. There have 
been six cases of promiscuous sexual intercourse 
witnessed. 
It is customary on St. George Island to leave 
250 pairs for breeding purposes annually. After 
the breeding quota is secured, all unbranded 
animals coming into the trap are killed and their 
skins secured. The annual yield of skins varies 
between 400 and 500. 
On SB Paul Island, where artificial feeding 
was not attempted while a sufficient nucleus re¬ 
mained, fox life is almost extinct. 
Rabbits and Squirrels in Louisians. 
Special Attorney .^mos L. Ponder, of the 
State Game Commission, has just rendered an 
opinion to President Frank’ M. Miller to the 
eff :ct that rabbits and squirrels in Louisiana can 
be hunted any month in the year. He holds 
that no one can hunt, however, without a license 
and this license runs from June to June of each 
National Collection of Heads 
and Herns. 
New York City, June 15 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Ever since the appearance of the first 
edition of Rowland Ward’s admirable work on 
the “Records of Big Game,” the collectors of 
heads and horns have been aware of the fact 
that F. H. Barber possessed a fine collection. 
Quite a number of Mr. Ward’s illustrations of 
record specimens have under them the legend, 
“From F. H. Barber’s specimen”; and in many 
of the lists of the world’s best African heads 
Mr. Barber’s name stands either at the head or 
very near it. Doubtless many American collec¬ 
tors have wondered regarding the habitat of that 
collection. 
On May 24 the whole of Mr. Barber's almost 
matchless collection of South African trophies 
arrived at the Zoological Park and was absorbed 
in our National Collection of Heads and Horns. 
Mr. Barber is an Afrikander. For many years 
he has lived at Grahamstown, Cape Colony, and 
has hunted big game all over South Africa. He 
pursued the chase in the days when big game 
was very abundant and when horns grew large. 
Throughout a period of perhaps forty years he 
diligently saved his finest specimens, purchased 
a few others that were particularly fine, and 
with commendable judgment sent about fifty of 
his finest heads to London, to be mounted by 
Rowland Ward. 
Quite naturally Mr. Barber’s taste and his 
exceptional facilities finally resulted in a collec¬ 
tion of big game heads and horns of unusual 
interest and value. At last the time came when 
it seemed best to dispose of it, and it was offered 
to New York. It was an opportunity not to 
be lost. Madison Grant, with valuable co-opera¬ 
tion from Lispenard Stewart, immediately set 
about, the task of securing by subscription the 
fund necessary for the purchase, and in a very 
short time the effort was crowned with success. 
The contributors were Messrs. Lispenard Stew¬ 
art, p". Augustus Schermerhorn, Frederick G. 
Bourne, William D. Sloane and Charles F. 
Dieterich. 
Through a liberal use of the Atlantic cables 
the purchase was quickly closed and the collec¬ 
tion was packed and started on its way to New 
York. After a surprisingly quick passage the 
collection reached the Zoological Park in good 
condition, and now is temporarily stored in the 
fireproof Lion House, awaiting the completion 
of the new Administration Building, on Oct. i. 
The Barber collection consists of sixty-seven 
mounted heads and eighty-three pairs of head¬ 
less horns. Among the grand records (the 
longest in the world) are heads and horns of 
greater kudu, waterbuck, white-tailed gnu, stein- 
buck and springbuck. The huge Cape buffalo 
head (48J4 inches), that for many years stood 
as the grand record, has recently been surpassed. 
The same is true of the great warthog head 
with 20-inch tusks, for which Mr. Barber once 
refused an offer of one hundred guineas ($525). 
Of the specimens that stand near the top of 
their respective lists of the world’s greatest there 
is not space to write in any brief and hurried 
notice. The collection is particularly rich in 
horns of gemsbock, inyala, hartebeestes, cob 
antelopes, waterbucks, gazelles of many species, 
gnus and elands. There are two fine heads of 
the rare—little known and nearly white—wild 
