Alaska and the Panama canal . hore is called a rookery, and where they are taken, killed andskinned a fishery. The large old bulls have harems of different sizes. I sawthem with from six to sixty cows. The bulls fight amongthemselves and their greatest concern appears to be in keepingtheir cows from reaving them. During the breeding season,and while the ofl:spring are young—June, July and August onthe Pribilof Islands—the bull never leaves the rookery or hisharem. He goes without food for three months at a time or,as it were, hibernates during the summer as the bear does inthe winter. It would
Alaska and the Panama canal . hore is called a rookery, and where they are taken, killed andskinned a fishery. The large old bulls have harems of different sizes. I sawthem with from six to sixty cows. The bulls fight amongthemselves and their greatest concern appears to be in keepingtheir cows from reaving them. During the breeding season,and while the ofl:spring are young—June, July and August onthe Pribilof Islands—the bull never leaves the rookery or hisharem. He goes without food for three months at a time or,as it were, hibernates during the summer as the bear does inthe winter. It would be a great scheme to cross the seal andthe bear, and produce an animal that would not need to catduring either winter or summer. The cow seal gives birth to one pup every year and nursesit. She goes to the ocean for food and will remain as long asseven days. If she is killed the pup starves to death. Hencethe killing of a cow always results in two deaths. A big bullweighs about 400 pounds and is from six to seven feet in. ALASKA 55 length. The weight of a cow seal usually approximateseighty pounds and it measures about four feet in length. All seals live on fish and squid found in the ocean. Thecorrect practice is to kill off all bachelors at three years ofage. Their fur is then in prime condition, and, as they haveno harem, they live useless lives. The custom on the PribilofIslands has been to drive the bachelors across the island like somany sheep to the slaughtering point, where they are simplyclubbed to death and skinned. The natives, half-breed Rus-sians or Indians, are given all they want to eat and the rem-nants of the carcasses are buried. It is necessary to drive theseals very slowly, as they move in what appears to be shortjumps, and if the ground is rough or stony they injure theskins and the fur. One attractive feature of female seal life is the absence ofold maids, widows, grass widows and unmarried maidens. Asthey are not killed for their skins, they always b
Size: 1211px × 2064px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorboycewilliamdickson18, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910
