River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-06-25

WHERE SEALS ARE BRED.
Light Thrown on the subject by a North
western skipper.

western ~hpptfs
In regard to the birth of the fur seal
outside of Behring ca, / think ID viii
be very difficult to find any man whs
has actua y seen the birth of any seal
But we can arrive at facts IN another
way The fur seal are supposed to be
all in Behring sea in July and stay
there until the first snow makes. Now
it's a well-lxnown fact that thousands
of them never go 10 Behring sea, for
they are TO be seen of all ages. in
Queen Charlotte sound, Dixon's en-
Wales island, and Baranoff island all
through the breeding season of June,
July, August and September, in fact
the whole year round.
Where these seal give birth to their
pups, whether in the kelp or on some
outlying rocks, can not say. But seals,
like other wild animals. adapt them
selves TO their environments. It's
very wrong to study the habits of an
animal in one locality, and say these
are its habits. for the same animal will
have entirely different habits in another
locality, but a few miles away, without
apparent difference in the conditions
surrounding il.
will tell you what ! saw about the
birth of common hair seal. | had often
wondered where the hair seal gave
birth to its young in these ATTITUDES, but
never had the good fortune TO see il
until 1864, in the month of August
came to anchor in bay Just north
of Point Francis, in Bellingham
bay, Wash. There is a small, sandy
island in the bay about six feet
high, with a long sand spit running
from 1t for about four hundred yards
that is covered with water at high tide.
The extreme outer end of the spit is a
little higher than the other end of IT,
On this end there was built an old
fashioned Indian seal trap. The spit
was dry when | anchored, so I landed
and walked out to see this piece of In
dian ingenuity, for ] had never seen
one before, but had been told by In.
dams of their catching seal by that
method.
The next morning when ! came on
deck | looked toward the end of the
spit, and there seemed to be an island
there of about an acre in extent
was perfectly astonished. for | knew
that there could be no island there, for
the spit would be all submerged
at that stage of the tide.
But after awhile, when there was more
daylight | saw the heads of seals NOV
ing about. / then knew il was a herd
of seals, but / had never seen such a
pack together before. l was at loss to
know what they were doing there.
took my rifle and went in my boat to-
ward them to try and get a shot, but
they saw me and scrambled into deep
water. / then saw there were hundreds
of pups among them. 1t was comical
to see the little things when they first
went into the water, their little black
heads bobbing up and down. and some
would climb on their mothers back and
look like young monkeys.
They played around for about half an
hasIr - d then left. / then landed on
the spit and walked the whole length
of it. There was then from three to
four inches of water all over il. and
picked up four still-born pups, so it was
evident to me that they had come there
to have their pups, and all gave birth
that night, for there were no seals there
when came there, nor were there any
there afterward, for | was there for
three days. | afterward saw a similar
thing on Smiths island spit
The reason the pup seal is not seen
swimming with its mother is that they
leave them in the vicinity of some rock
until they are through sucking. have
picked up many of them that way that
were too young~to eat until they We're
taught. III. Ii. Lloyd, in Fort Town
send Leader.