The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1913-07-03
THE FUR SEAL.
By a ''Furrier'

t0f0SllUS luI annual eDOA' ~, IVY
being very beautiful, durable and
expensive. The choicest seal skins
come from the Bearing Sea region.
During the killing season in July
and August, the seals lie along the
rocky shores, the bulls or beach
masters" as they are called, and
their COWS and pups OCCUPYING the
rocks nearest the water, while the
bachelors, the young, minated seals,
are forced to 90 farther back on the
hillside. AS the bachelors only are
killed for their skins. this natural
division facilitates the work OF the
drivers in making their selec-
tions.
Very early in the morning, two
or three drivers slip in quietly be-
tween the bachelors and the shore
and "cut out" as the boys say,
bunch for the days killing. They
then proceed to make a great noise
by shouting and beating on tin cans.
the seals are frightened and the
squirming, hobbllng, budding mass
is gradually forced away from the
rocky shore to the grassy upland
some distance away, bleating like a
flock of sheep, ambling along in
their awkard fashion Offering no re-
sistauce and finally the killing
ground is reached.
Since milady must have the furs
which these pretty creatures wear.
and since her wants cannot be sat-
listed without killing the seals, the
method adopted on the Island prob
ably infects less suffering on the
part of the victims than any other
that could be devised, but one who
has witnessed the operation once
will not wish to see it again. The
seals seem to become conscious OF
their impending fate and their APP
pealing eyes, soft as those of deer,
their plaintive cries and their fran
tic but Intellectual struggle to escape
would stay the arm of any one not
hardened to do this cruel work.
After being killed the pelts are
carefully removed, spread out Oh
the grass, sailed and dried, then are
tied up in pairs, in compact bundles
and shipped to the seal skin market
at London, where the BEST process of
tanning and drying has been well
guarded monopoly for many years.
The choice pelts, when ready to be
manufactured, are worth one hun
dred dollars each.
The habits of the seal are very In
teresting. Where they come from
in the spring, and where they 90 to
in the autumn is something of a
mystery-the South Pacific prob
ably, as the sea is their natural
habitant and furnishes both food
and lodging. They do not touch
laud from the time they leave in
the fall until they return again in
the early summer.
The first to arrive on the seal
islands are the older males, who
come to select the sites of their
summer residence. They locate,
but not without a good deal of fight
ing over the choice spots and await
the arrival of the females. whom
they gather in harems of fifteen or
twenty as fast as they arrive. The
young are born soon after the fe-
males arrive one to each female.
The mated male is called a bull, the
uDmated male is called bachelor,
the female is called COW and her
offspring pup, though. the latter is
the only seal that bears any resem-
blance to bulls or COWS or pups
When the pup cries it makes noise
like the bleat of lamb; they look
as much alike as handful of peas
"a cluster of them is called a pod
Three days after the pup is born
its mother goes tC sea for food.
Her first excursion his not long, but
when she returns she has no diff
Guilty in picking out her own among
the thousands of little wriggling,
crying and hungry creatures.
Sometimes seal poacher" kills
the mother while out for food and
that means the death of her pup, as
there are no nurses in fur seald ON
and no seal mother will minister
to the hunger of any seal baby but
her own.
The mated males never leave the
Island from the time they arrive in