The fur of the Martin is fine, and it is used for trimmings, and also dyed so as
to imitate sables and other expensive furs. Hence it has always been an
important article of commerce. Upwards of one hundred thousand skins have
long been collected annually in the fur countries.
DESCRIPTION.
The form of the Martin is welt known. It has a pleasing aspect. Its fur is about an
inch and a quarter long, of a pale, dull,, grayish-brown, or hair-brown colour, from the roots
upwards, dull yellowish-brown near the summit, and tipped with dark brown or black. The
lustre of the surface of the fur is considerable. The hair of the tail is longer, coarser, and
darker, than that of the body. At the tip of the tail its length is three inches, and it has
a blackish colour. The yellowish-white markings on the throat vary in different individuals,
The darkest skins are most prized. The fur is in the highest order in the winter time; in
the beginning of summer, the dark tips of the hairs drop off, and the general colour of the
fur is a pale orange-brown, with little lustre. The tips of the ears, at all times lighter than
the rest of the fur, become very pale in the summer time. The natives remark that the fur
of the Martin loses all its lustre, and consequently much of its value, upon the falling of the
first shower of rain for the season. Length of the head and body from eighteen to twenty
inches.
[18.] 5. M u s t e l a C a n a d e n s i s . (Lin.) The Pekan, or Fisher.
Le Pekan. Buff on, vol. xiii. p. 304, t. xlii. Opt.
Mustela Canadensis. Linn. Gmelin, vol. i. p. 95. 1
Fisher. Pennant’s Arct. Zool., vol i. p. 82. Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 238.
Mustela Pennanti. Erxlebein, Syst., p. 470.
Wejack. Hearne’s Joum. Graham’s MSS.
Fisher or Black-fox. Lewis and Clark, vol. iii. p. 25.
Fisher-weasel, or Pekan. Warden’s United States.
Mustela Pennanti. Sabine, Franklin's First Journey). 651.
Mustela Canadensis. Harlan’s Fauna, p. 65.
Pennant’s Martin. Godman’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 203.
Otchoek. Créé Indians. Woodshock. Hudson’s Bay Company’s Sale Lists.
Wejack, or Fisher. F ur Traders. Pekan. Canadian Voyagers.
This animal has been described by authors under many appellations. A considerable
number of its skins are annually imported into England by the Hudson’s
Bay Company, and exposed in their Sales under the names of Woodshocks or
Fishers. The latter appellation, whatever its origin may have been, has led to
much confusion in the history of the species, and has caused the habits of the
mustela vison to be ascribed to it. Mr. Bartram, as quoted by Pennant, is the
first written authority I can find for the name, and he distinctly says, “ though
they are not amphibious, and live on all kinds of lesser quadrupeds, they are called
Fishers.” Wejack, the appellation under which Hearne mentions it, is a corruption
of its Cree or Knisteneaux name, otchoek, and the word Woodshock has a similar
origin. It is universally termed Pekan by the Canadian fur-hunters, which may
be considered as evidence of its being the animal described by Buffon. Pennant
had only an imperfect view, through a glass case, of the Pekan, in a museum at
Paris*, and does not appear to have recognised it in his fisher. Under the article
Pekan, in Arctic Zoology, it is said that a skin of that species was sent from Hudson’s
Bay, by Mr. Graham, labelled with the name of Jackash. This name is given
by the traders solely to the mustela vison, and I suspect that, through some
accident, the label intended for a specimen of the latter animal had been affixed
to a skin of the common Pine-martin. Hence the formation of a nominal species,
by Pennant, and much of the confusion that has ensued. Large individuals of the
common Pine-martin, in their summer dress, have a considerable resemblance to
the Fisher, and might easily have been mistaken by Pennant for the animal he
had imperfectly examined at Paris; and having once named it the Pekan, it
followed that a true skin of the Fisher, also received from Mr. Graham, was
described as a distinct species. Pennant actually says that his Pekan agrees in
dimensions and white marks with the European martin.
The Pekan is a larger and stronger animal than any variety of the Pine-martin,
but it has similar manners ; climbing trees with facility, and preying principally
on mice. It lives in the woods, preferring damp places in the vicinity of water,
in which respect it differs from the martin, which is generally found in the driest
spots of the pine forests. The Fisher is said to prey much on frogs in the
summer season; but I have been informed that its favourite food is the Canada
porcupine, which it kills by biting on the belly. It does not seek its food in the
water, although, like the Pine-martin, it will feed on the hoards of frozen fish laid
up by the residents.
It inhabits a wide extent of country, from Pennsylvania to Great Slave Lake,
being thirty degrees of latitude, and I believe its range extends completely across
the continent. It is found on the shores of the Pacific. It brings forth, once a
year, from two to four young.
* Arctic Zoology, vol. i. p. 78.