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246 T H R O U G H T H E M A C K E N Z I E B A S IN
and they may go s t i l l lower for this season, after which they
w i l l , as usual, r a p i d l y increase again i n numbers. More
attention than before is now given to the hunting of the
musquash i n this and other districts, and as a result the
Company's sales are very considerably above the average
of former years. In January, 1897, they sold 492,244
s k i n s ; i n January, 1900, 756,910 skins; i n J a n u a r y , 1901,
I am told that the sales bordered on 2,000,000 skins; in
January, 1902, 1,650,214 skins, and i n January, 1903,
1,482,670 skins. This last showing i s only 53,122 skins less
than double the figures for the best sale ( 1873) entered in
the London sales statement. The aggregate total for the
period was 10,600,056 skins.
L e a d i n g hunters at the P a s , Cumberland, state that when
about a year old the musquash begins to breed. The female
has but two litters, the first and three each succeeding season
for a time. The number of young brought forth at a b i r th
varies betwen 8 and 20. When born, they are weak and
b l i n d for some days, but they soon acquire sight and strength
and learn to s w im about and a i d i n p r o v i d i n g for their own
g r a d u a l l y increasing wants. Their food consists of esculent
grasses and aquatic roots of various kinds. As already mentioned,
many thousands of musquash die of disease, and
many other thousands perish i n seasons of l ow water. M r.
C o l i n Thomson, an intelligent observer, remarks:
They have an instinctive habit which those who hunt them
would do well to learn. They have a general residence In which
they live and exercise their natural instincts; to this residence a
storehouse is attached at a little distance, in which they put up
many dainty and succulent roots against the " rainy day" and a
long winter; and when misfortune drives them from their homes,
they are not without a refuge, although it be but a small one. The
material used in the construction of their houses is such as they
find in the marshy swamps where they live, and it is not uncommon
to find the entire family of a season living in one house, sometimes
as many as sixty in all.
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| Title | Page 270 |
| OCR | 246 T H R O U G H T H E M A C K E N Z I E B A S IN and they may go s t i l l lower for this season, after which they w i l l , as usual, r a p i d l y increase again i n numbers. More attention than before is now given to the hunting of the musquash i n this and other districts, and as a result the Company's sales are very considerably above the average of former years. In January, 1897, they sold 492,244 s k i n s ; i n January, 1900, 756,910 skins; i n J a n u a r y , 1901, I am told that the sales bordered on 2,000,000 skins; in January, 1902, 1,650,214 skins, and i n January, 1903, 1,482,670 skins. This last showing i s only 53,122 skins less than double the figures for the best sale ( 1873) entered in the London sales statement. The aggregate total for the period was 10,600,056 skins. L e a d i n g hunters at the P a s , Cumberland, state that when about a year old the musquash begins to breed. The female has but two litters, the first and three each succeeding season for a time. The number of young brought forth at a b i r th varies betwen 8 and 20. When born, they are weak and b l i n d for some days, but they soon acquire sight and strength and learn to s w im about and a i d i n p r o v i d i n g for their own g r a d u a l l y increasing wants. Their food consists of esculent grasses and aquatic roots of various kinds. As already mentioned, many thousands of musquash die of disease, and many other thousands perish i n seasons of l ow water. M r. C o l i n Thomson, an intelligent observer, remarks: They have an instinctive habit which those who hunt them would do well to learn. They have a general residence In which they live and exercise their natural instincts; to this residence a storehouse is attached at a little distance, in which they put up many dainty and succulent roots against the " rainy day" and a long winter; and when misfortune drives them from their homes, they are not without a refuge, although it be but a small one. The material used in the construction of their houses is such as they find in the marshy swamps where they live, and it is not uncommon to find the entire family of a season living in one house, sometimes as many as sixty in all. |
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