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The Rhytina stelleri, a species of walrus formerly frequenting Bering Strait in millions, was completely exterminated between the years 1741-68. Many of the fur-bearing animals, which attracted the Cossacks from the Urals to the Sea of Okhotsk, and which were the true cause of the conquest of Siberia, have become extremely rare.
A "prime fur" must be "thick" and "full," and as all our fur-bearing animals shed their heavy winter coats as warm weather approaches, it necessarily follows that the capture at this season would be unprofitable. As the autumn approaches the new growth appears, and the fur becomes thick and glossy. And all other furs are sure to be in good condition at this time.
"One thing I want to ask you, boys, right in the start," the trapper took occasion to say; "while you're up with me you must promise never to shoot at a fox, a mink, a marten, an otter, or in fact any small fur-bearing animal." "We give you our word, all right, Uncle Jim," said Steve, readily.
"Boys, let us head for it," he exclaimed; "it must be warm in the vicinity of the crater and perhaps we may find some sort of life existent there. Even the fur-bearing pollywog may reside there. Who knows?" All agreed, without much argument, that it came within the scope of their duties to investigate the volcano, and they soon were winging toward it.
They were a simple and very ignorant peasantry, industrious and frugal till evil days came to discourage them; living aloof from the world, with little of that spirit of adventure which an easy access to the vast fur-bearing interior had developed in their Canadian kindred; having few wants, and those of the rudest; fishing a little and hunting in the winter, but chiefly employed in cultivating the meadows along the River Annapolis, or rich marshes reclaimed by dikes from the tides of the Bay of Fundy.
The proclamation required by section 3 of the act of March 2, 1889, relating to the killing of seals and other fur-bearing animals, was issued by me on the 21st day of March, and a revenue vessel was dispatched to enforce the laws and protect the interests of the United States. The establishment of a refuge station at Point Barrow, as directed by Congress, was successfully accomplished.
When you consider that in its palmiest old days of exclusive monopoly the Hudson's Bay Company never sold more than half a million dollars' worth of furs a year, this total for Edmonton alone does not sound like a scarcity of furs. The question may be asked, do not these large figures presage the hunting to extinction of fur-bearing animals? I do not think so.
The Russians have always been noted for their love of furs; as a result a small, fur-bearing animal, the sable, led to the conquest of that vast realm now known as Siberia. About the middle of the sixteenth century a rich Russian merchant named Strogonoff, residing at Kazan, established salt works on the banks of the Kama, a tributary of the Volga River, and began trading with the natives.
"When it is winter in the northern parts of North America, and the Great Snow Owls have scattered on their southward journey when heavy snows have beaten down and covered the seed-stalks of weeds and well-nigh walled the little fur-bearing beasts into their holes then in regions where March brings only storms of sleet to coat the tree-trunks and lock up insect food, a pair of strange birds are already building their nest.
While in different provinces the exact status of these establishments may vary somewhat, the main purpose of each is the same, the preservation of the forests and the wild life. In all of them a regulated amount of fishing is permitted, and in some the taking of fur-bearing animals is permitted; but I believe in all the birds and furless mammals are strictly protected.
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