Douglas Island news., 1919-11-14
FOX BUSINESS
 OF PRIBILOFS Uncle Sam Raises Something Be- sides Seals on These Ear
 Away Islands

mucb-rI1od animal win cost you a least seoo m Che coming winter
 10 bouId not bo confused with On, silver fox. which IS phase cor yart .ant Of Che common rcd fox Che sam, animal that Is to say. with a iroaa color OblacE with whitc-uppcd haiul which may bo porpotuated from gene orauou by selection and breeding
 The blue fox Is. iu Che same way. .a variant of Che white Arctic fox. which has brown tavucy pelagc In Che summer time. In other words. its color which Is dark bluc-rray is abnormal and rare. But. for some unexplained reason. most ol Che foxes on Che pr.blof .si- auds. m Bcr.ug sca. are oi th.s color.
 Hence Che fox-mrmng operations | in Che which Uncle Sam Is engaged ou Che those rland. The skins lof ! which he win bavc about l0O0 this ycarI arc sold at auction .u st Louis and Che next batch win probably fetch an average or SlO0 apiece Re .alcrs win double the price.
 Before we bought Alaska Russ siau-AmcrIgan company held rights to Che foxes on Che PrIbuots and from iSl2 Go 1860 took au annual average of moro chan $500 skins hercfom No care was thou taken of tbc animals which wore wild. feeding on birds and on soals lclt on Che killing fcIds
 Sine lSg6 Che foxes have been rog- uar.y ted m br winters and on one ol hc two Islands Ost GcorrcI hcy may be said to bc semIdomost- cucd Reu. meat and odu from che sca Hne H stored tor them othcr aIteI or preserved hy drying and s dolcd our to them during che foId season. when otherwise thoy would starre.
 On hc other island Ost pauU thcy are helped In Che same way. but hcrc hoy are caught in s.ee. traps for market whereas or st George thcir capture s cIoatod In such wise that beg are neither frightened nor hurt until humauoiy
 slaughtered. and consequently have become so umc as to frequent thc ueIrhborbooI Of houses. occasionally jumping In through che kitchen wine dovs
 The iaand are smaIL st Paul s thirteen miles long and st George twelve miles, On tho latter Che foxes arc ar more numerous largely because of extensive rookcr.e. Of soa birds which u spring and summer afford thcm a plentiful food supply v.ry fcw white ones are Iolt ou st. George. for the reason chat they are systematically destroyed iea. they Impair che purity of Che blue breed
 On st George millions of ouks rufns and murres build thc.rncss among Che cI8s over which Che foxes In pursuit ot UatbcrcI prey climb to r.aces seemueIy inaccessible Go a luadruDed They store many of tho eggs for future meals by buryne tbcm u moss m winter they catch fish. and am occasional dead seq lion. whale or walrus. east up by Che sea. helps out
 An old b0athouse on st George island scrycs Che purpose or a teed- ing p'occ and at One same time chat | Of a trap The food s placed I'm one Of Che rooms Iu and out ol which the foxes eo freely Thus they lose an umidity and when it Is desired to capture a Iot Of chem an chat Is necessary .s to wait until many are m Che room and ,ben pun % rope chat shuts Che door,
 An feeding and trapping Is done at night The food is stored n Che same building where. m another room Che skins are stretched inc mca.atcIy after being taken Each fox before being killed s hold up by Che au and examined. U it bo er.p- pied OF diseased It is killed If t bc not mu grown or in poor condi- uo1 it Is released. If it be am oz- goptonalyy fine specimen it Is uber- atcd. because valuable as a breeder
 An adult male may weigh. as much as fourteen pounds. a female ten pounds Tho animals find their dons u holes among rocks. or. if lt be sandy district. beneath a rock. Ordinarily thc female eIv,e birth to SIX OF seven pups In a Inter- but thcrc may be as many us eleven. They weigh about two and one quarter ounces when bou
 Blue fox farming is now a pros porur industry u central and south- ern Alaska. ou islands leased by Che government to private concerns Tho requisite breeding stock Go star. with is furnished from Che Pribuos Che purchasers ordinarily paying