The L'Anse sentinel., 1922-11-03

York Herald correspondent visited the
Coipitt ranch the other day one of
the particular pets would answer the
call OF the proprietor and would feed
out Of his hand.
Formerly foxes were caught in the
wild state In all parts Of Canada. but
destruction of wild life goes on at "a
rapid pace in all parts of the world
DR.. Hornaday, director Of the New
York Geological park, Is authority for
the statement that In New York state
there are 500 destructionlsts to every
conservationist, while in the West and
In Canada there are thousand to
one, In Alaska the ratio Is two thou
sand to one and in South Africa there
are one hundred thousand destroying
wild life to every one preserving it.
The buffalo. which once roamed the
prairles. is quite extinct, except for
specimens in the government reserva-
tions or national parks, and so II Is
with most other native wild animals.
759 Fox Farms in Canada.
Hence the fur farms. and fur farm
Ing official statistics show that there
are 704 fur farms In Canada, of which
15S are fox, II mink, 8 raccOOn, 3 mar
ten. 2 skunk. 4 karakul sheep, 3 bea-
yer, muskrat. The lcrease In the
number of farms over 1920 is 2O6. The
number of animals on these farms is
22,455. valued at $5,775.Oa5, as COM
pared with 16529 animals valued at
S4,122,0O5 in the previous year. There
are hundreds Of small ranches which
are not included In this enumeration.
There are two fox breeders assOcia.
tions In Canada and two In the United
States. The Canadian associations
are the Silver Black Fox Breeders of
Prince. Edward Island and the Cana.
dian Silver Fox Breeders.
Foxes In the wild state form a col
ony and live together II not disturbed.
The old couple remain at the home
burrow year after year II food condi.
tions hold out and will burrow dozens
of holes in the same hillside. The
young ones dropped In March will get
out for themselves in October and find
burrow of their own. When the
proper season comes they seek mate.
III the male finds female burrow dur
ing the mating season and tgkes a
fancy to her he will hunt and carry
presents Of rabbits. which he places
at the entrance of the burrow. II she
accepts his gifts they mate, II not
he carries them away again..
Male 10 Good Provider.
After the little ones are born the fe-
male remains at home and the male
spends his time hunting and keeping
watch. He will starve himself II &C.
essary to feed his mate and young
ones. good male will examine all
food and II he gets dainty morsel
will carry 1t to the entrance Of the
burrow while the female is nursing
the young and call her out and give II
to her. Many fathers can take les
son from the fox In providing for his
family and yet many ranchers separ-
ate male and female after mating ses
sOn.
In the United States are the Ameri-
can Fox Breeders association Of Bos
ton and the National Silver Fox Breed
ers' association of Muskeg0n.
There are fur farms of different
kinds In most Of the United States AZ
we'll as In all the provinces Of Cans
da. States reporting ranches are New
York, New Jersey, Massachusetts,.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, I'LL
nois, Indiana. Pennsylvania. Iowa.
Michigan. Ohio. California. Colorado,
Idaho. Kansas. Minnesota, Missouri.
South Dakota, Oregon, Texas and
Washington.
The United States bureau Of com
merce Is engaged In the fur industry
In Alaska. having taken over the work
In connection with the Pribilof Islands
In 1911. where blue fox herds are
maintained at the public expense and
skins have been sold to the value Of
over half a million dollars. A cash
payment of s. is also made to the ma
lives for each fox skin taken for the
market. In Alaska the fox ls fed on
refuse from seal killings. which II e.
pecially preserved for them. the ma
tives performing the work In return
for fuel. food, clothing and other ne~
essaries furnished By the government
Probably no state has Had more pro
gresslve growth in fox ranchIns than
New York. The climate in the north
ern part Of that ststc ID said to BE-
admirably adapted for the raising Of
good fur and pelts taken from foxes
are said TO bring good prices.
China has = standiux amy Of nsoxs