Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-09-11
MINK FARMING
Profit and Enjoyment in Rail-.
Little Fur-bearer. .

Little Fur-bearers y
My father had at one time ~;
mostly Of his own raising, ana ,aI' !. nj :
as tame and easily handled J. !sa
kittens; but the decline in fnrs = nall
sequently of our enthusiasm /, ala CO
terprise and our subsequent r j % q
Tennessee put an end to the ern ,ass
writes a Forest and Stream co5 ps,aae't
We lost a number, | rememhs, ''.0u'a
the last, by feeding them too mn,h 'gsa
liver. The little animals WERE 40, ~
ingly fond of liver, and we tb,s s.',
the yard one day whole beef's H.. "a
which they gorged themselves for ....'l
days. This brought on a kind n "a
terry, of which good many died
also lost number from no causs e..
could ascertain, but which now IN
was from keeping too many cons1.s
too small space. The mink Is a soI;.
animal by nature, and when too man.
by force congregated it brings on eos,'.
ious diseases among them.
Our enclosure was at first abou. I,
or five rods square, and surronnS.,
clump Of small spruce trees and ~
stream of water constantly n,n,;.
through it in box about foot wiSs,.;
about the same depth. Later W. fos.s
that the animals had to be separated m.a
Of the year, for they are vicious sobis
especially the old ones, and Thus IN !
closure was divided into small come
ments. The outside was an unrIss.
tight BOARD fence, six feet high rs,i;,.
on stone wall one foot below the surt.,,
with fiat stones at the bottom. proiecjD,
in, also with board foot wide proi.,s
ing inward from the top, aud the COMES r
lined with tin. Then, to insure Their ~
climbing out, we used to clip tbe w.
front nails of the fore paws. Ifthsi
done when the animal is young and 4,
nail clipped close up-that is. taking Il
the end Of the toe with tit will moi h
likely to grow out again, and this quis
effectually spoils the animals abiitvy
a climber or digger.
As boy, 1t was my part Of the fan
chores to look after the ''minkeryr uI
an agreeable duty it was TO me IL man,
respects. The feed consisted almost q
tirely of woodchucks, in which our ~
ton of Western New York abOunia
and many an afternoon the excuse Of b.
ing out Of 'smink baitn was suficenlb
let me off about milking time, and NAM
a poor woodchuck fell victim to n,
little smooth-bore at short range. Til
young ones were fed mostly on milk, lsp
ping it up greedily like young puppies
A young mink is easily tanned, I'D
they are the most cute and playful ltd,
creatures in the world. They will plu
together for hours at tne rolling md
tumbling over each ot..sr in the vsa
aud out in the most amusing name.
They were sociable and friendly, Mi
seemed delighted when | came into ii.
yard to see them. They would caElsl
over me and up my coat sleeve and pan
taloon legs. and let me feel Of thsh
sharp, needle-like teeth without offering
to bite. / have seen them rolling sna
tumbling in the water, when one would
stretch out and appear to be dead, and
the other seize him by the nape Of The
neck and drag him out Of the water and
several feet out on the ground, when The
"dead" mink would suddenly jump and
they would both scramble into the vsis
and reverse the performance.
Like all meat eating animals, themink
would gorge themselves with enough St
one time to last them two or three dan
and during such periods they are stupid
and quiet spending most Of the time asleep
and when handled viii lazily open thsl
eyes and stretch out and 60 to sleep
again. But let them once get fairy
hungry and they are about as lively
as ever saw. At such times !
is best 20 be careful about feeding then
bits of meat from your hand, for theyE
liable to grab hold of your finger instead
and then, mink will beat any bull ter,
rier that ever lived in the matter q
on, and a dozen tomcats canno
do as lively snarling and scratching
You may swing them around rap then
against the fence or duck them undo
The water, they still hold their grip, anl
nothing but a good strong choking unil
ihe breath is fairly gone viii induce then
10 let go.