Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1881-01-13
siberian Eurs.

The Russian sable inhabits the forest
clad mountains of Siberia, desolate, cold,
inhospItable region. The animal ishunted
during the winter and generally by exiles.
There are various methods of taking the
sable. Great numbers are shot with small
bore rifles; others are trapped in steel
and fall traps, and many taken in nets
placed over their places of retreat, into
which they are tracked on the snow. Who
can picture to himself, without shuddering,
the case of the condemned sable hunter
He leaves with heavy heart the last thinly
scattered habitatIOns which border the path
less wilds; a sky of clouds and darkness is
above, bleak mountains and gloomy forests
before him; the recesses of the forests, the
dehles of the mountains must be traversed,
for these are the haunts of the sable. The
cold is below Zero but the fur will prove
the finer. Fatigue and cold exhaust him,
snow storm overtakes him, the waymarks
are lost or forgotten. Provision fails, and
too often he VITO promised to his expectant
and anxious friends a speedy return is seen
no more. Such is sable hunting in Siberia,
and such the hapless fate of many an exile,
who perishes in the pursuit of what only
adds TO the luxuries and supert1uitIes of the
great and wealthy.
The fisher is very similar TO the pine
marten in all its habits, but much larger.
Its value or trade price in British Columbia
is from tW dollars and fifty cents to three
dollars per skin. The fisher in full winter
fur makes far bandsomer muff than the
sable.
The fur of the mink is vastly inferior TO
either the fisher or marten, being harsh,
short and glossy. The habits of the ami
NAL, too, are entirely different. The mink
closely resembles the otter in its mode of
life, frequenting streams inland, and rocks,
small islands and sheltered bays on. the
seacoast. 1t swims with great ease and
swiftness, captures fish, eats mollusks,
crabs and any marine animal that falls in
its way. On the inland rivers it dives for
and catches great numbers of crayfish, that
abound In almost every stream east and
west of the Cascades. Along tue river
banks the little heaps of craytish shells di-
rect the Indian to the whereabouts of the
mink, which is generally caught with q
steel trap, baited with fish. The trade
price is about fifty cents per skin.
The ermine of Northwest America is not
worth much. The far never grows long
| or becomes white enough in winter. The
Indians use il for ornamental purposes, and
often wear the skins as charm, or medi-
cine, as they term it. The best ermlne
comes from Siberia, Norway and Russia.
The raccoon is widely distributed
throughout North and Northwest America.
Crafty and artful, bis life is entirely one
of brigandage. The fur is not very valua-
BILE, being principally used in making car
riage rugs and lining inferior cloaks and
coats on the European continent. About
$40, 900 skins are sent annually from the
Hudson Bay Company's territories. They
are generally shot.
The three species of foxes traded by the
Hudson Bay Company are the red, the
cross, and the silver. The silver fox skins
are very valuable, a good skin fetching
readily from forty to fifty dollars; the rec
fox is only worth about twentieth o1
that sum.