The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-04-12
ALAsKA's GAME RESOURCES.

| ALASlNA y GAM hESOQ RCES.
What the War Departments Exploring
Parties Found.
! Some of the exploring parties sent out
by the war department in 1898 traversed
| wholly unknown regions in inner Alas
| ka hundreds of miles from the coasts.
| They saw a good deal of Alasgan game,
and in their recently published reports
| give some fresh information on this sub
| ject. Lieutenant Cashier, for example,
who struck out route all the way
from Cook inlet to Dawson city, sums
that Alaska Is not so well supplied with
game as most people imagine. Many
large tracts In the interior seem entire
ly devoid OF game, and are perfect SOL
itude. Every summer, however, thou
sands of waterfowl and song birds pay
visit to our northern territory, rear
their young and then go south again.
Among them are many varieties OF the
duck and geeseFfamilies, and many Of
the Waterfowl stay all winter along the
mild south coast of Alaska. The raven,
the ptarmigan and a few small snow
birds are the old birds that remain after
the snow comes.
On his long journey Lieutenant Cast
ner saw the tracks of hundreds of bears,
but did not see one of the animals. The
large brown and the small black bears
are the principal representatives Of the
bruin family, The black bear is most
plentiful and is not SO fierce as the
brown bear, which is said to be very fe-
rocious when wounded The large game
that he saw we've moose, caribou, sheep,
goats, lynx, foxes, wolves and wolver-
ines. He saw the tracks OF, perhaps a
thousand moose, but they are so shy
and so quick to discover the presence CT
human being that he saw only one Of
them The wolverine seems TO enjoy a
practical joke, for he tears open caches
and destroys their contents, even though
they are not edible
Captain Abercrombie mentions in his
report twenty species of mammals liv-
Ing in the Copper river valley, including
those mentioned above, besides the sill
yer tip, blue glacier and yellow bears,
and the beaver, marten, mink musk
rat, whistling marfnot, porcupine and
gopher
Captain Glenn's report tells Of the eff
forts that Mr.. Story of the Alaska
Packing association ad others are MAX
ing to raise blue foxes on Fox Island,
about thirty miles southwest of Port
Valdez, They pay the United States
about 500 rental every year for the use
of the island and their plant, including
the foxes brought to the island, has
cost about $4,000, with very small re-
turn up to the end of the third season.
In 1898 they had about 800 head on hand,
and expected to utilize some of their
increase last year. The reputed increase
Of the animals Is seven per female an
nually, but these trappers are amply
satisfied if they succeed in raising iiVe.
The foxes run wild on the island, but
are caught readily and without injury
in box traps, from which the males are
taken and killed and the females are re-
leased The pelts are valued at from
$40 to SIS each.
F. A. Lucas has recently described in
Science the feeding and trapping CT llue
foxes on Pribilof Islands, where the in
dustry has not long been established.
The Island of st. George is admirably
adapted for the abode of the fox, the
only drawback being the lack of food
during the winter. After pelagio ssal-
ing became prevalent the foxes had, for
a time, an abundant supply of food in
the shape of seal pups, whose mothers
had been shot at sea. the pups starving
in consequence In 1896 every pup was
1evoured by the foxes. On the Aleutian
islands dIie0 salmon has been used to |
feed the foxes, in winter, and on st. !
George linseed meal has been fed to
hem. In 1897 it was decided to use the
of skinned seals, but as the
latch out Of ST. George has of late been
small, carcasses were sailed, brought !
)ver from st. Paul and used for batting
he box traps, As the use of the box
proved slow, corral was constructed,
md arranged so that the entrance could |
,asily be closed. This plan proved a
success, the foxes entering without hes
tation, so that from five to forty could
De taken. The males are killed by |
their necks, but one male is
eft alive to every three females. Blue
oxes seem to lack the proverbial craft A.,