Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
SEA-OTTER.
The sea-otter has the most valuable fur of any animal.
Common otters killed on the coast are often confounded with the Sea-otter. This is a great mistake. The sea-otter is as much a marine animal as the seal or the sea-lion. It swims out in the open ocean, and is even more of a pelagic creature than the seal, for it either produces its young when in the water, or at any rate carries and suckles them on the open sea. The sea-otter is much larger than the common otter. Unfortunately the fish and other marine creatures which form the food of the sea-otters are found mainly near the coast. Following them, the otters come near the Aleutian Islands, where the hunters are ever on the watch for them. If a single otter is seen, five or six boats, with a rifleman in each, at once put out, and the otter stands little chance of escape. It never was a common animal, and the prices given for the fur, up to £200 for a first-class skin, have caused its destruction. The skin, when stretched and cured, is sometimes 5 feet long, and is of an exquisite natural rich brown, like long plush, sprinkled all over with whitish hairs like hoarfrost.
Photo by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, Washington.
RACCOON.
This animal is found from Alaska, through the United States, to Central America.
THE SKUNKS.