Now reader, these are not all the points of still hunting. It takes a peculiar cuss for a still hunter, and still hunters are born that way; all the education in the world will not make a still hunter.
CHAPTER XXI.
FOX RANCHES.
It is estimated that at present nearly 50 of the Aleutian Islands have fox ranches, most of which are said to have been successfully managed. Thus far the Government has rented the islands for this purpose at $100 per year. Some years ago the revenue cutter Perry was sent to the Archipelago by the Treasury Department for the express purpose of ascertaining the location of the islands used for fox ranches. The Government's agents were not long in finding out that in several instances the fox raisers had appropriated islands for which they were paying no rental. These persons were brought up with a sharp turn and ordered to pay up or shut up shop.
It seems quite clear that where proper business methods have been followed the ranches, without exception, have succeeded thus far, and will prove immensely valuable in the future. On some of the islands the work has been going on for 12 or 15 years, and three of them now have a fox population of more than 1,000 each. The first method was to begin operations by turning loose on an island several pairs of foxes. In some instances the animals have increased rapidly, with the result that in a year or so it had become apparent that $150 or $200 paid for a pair of mated animals was likely to prove a good investment.
NORTHERN FOX TRAPPER'S DOG TEAM.
The original project was to breed the silver gray fox, as the fur of this animal is much more valuable than that of the commoner varieties. A good silver gray pelt is worth about $50 to the original seller, while $15 or thereabout is the price for the pelt of the blue fox. But the silver gray has many peculiarities which make its domestication exceedingly difficult, practically impossible, in fact. It is much given to devouring its young, and it has many of the characteristics of the wolf. At present only one of the islands is given up to the silver grays, and the animals do not increase rapidly.