FA1Tct. The animals of C'anada are as vied as its flora and characteristic of northern lati tudes. -\11 bear a close resemblance to those of Northern Europe and .\ sin, and many species are idea tieal—that is, have a circumpolar range. (See ANIERIr.\ , paragraph on Fauna.) • The car nivora are represented by sev..ral specie:, of the weasel family (such as the ermine, sable, fisher, wolverine. mink (qq.v.). elf... whose abundance and value tong ago gave the name Fur Countries to northern Canada. There are also the lynx. bear, fox, wolf, skunk, and in the Northwest the badger. The puma or American lion is still found in some parts. -kilning the rodents, the healer is so widespread and characteristic, and was so important to the beginnings of colo nial that it has become the na tional emblem of the Dominion. The Canadian porcupine. muskrat (locally (Allied 'musquash'), hares. and many smaller rodents are numerous, and on the western plains are a variety of bur rowing 'gophers' and the like. 'time Virginian and black-tailed deer enter the southern edge of Canada. and the elk is found in the Rocky .Nlouti tains, but the moose and various caribou range all over British North America; and in the moun tains of British Columbia the wild sheep and the white goat antelope are numerous and high ly characteristic. The prong-horn antelope is
mill abundant in some parts of the Saskatche wan Valley, and the musk-ox is found in the .‘re t ie tracts. There is :in immense variety of birds. many of whiell, characteristic of northern eli mates, are unknown southward; but the majority are migrants that go to the northern parts of Can ada to breed. and the country in the winter for warmer regions southward. Fishes are numer ous in ail the inland writers, and about all the coasts (see bel(M), but Nit Iles and the more delicate insects are scarce, except in the most southerly part. The gathering of furs, which played so striking a part in the colonization and earlier prosperity of the country, has been greatly diminished of late, owing to the extinction of the principal fur-bearing animals over a large part of their former range. The beaver, in particular, has disappeared from all but the remotest and wildest regions. In 1900 the exports of furs amounted to $1.800.000. besides which there was a valuable quota of skins other than furs. The game animals are hunted by large numbers of sportsmen, and. in spite of protective laws, the supply of game is diminishing.