Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1901-08-29
THE MINK.

THE MINK.
Like all the other members of the wea-
sci tribe. the mink has a bad reputation.
He earned it, he lives right up to it, and
Judging hy appearances. he is proud of IT
too Like Ishmael of old, his hand is
against every man. and for sufficient rea-
sons for cleverer. craftier. stoalthier
thief and cut-throat does not inhabit the
Eastern States than the mink
III, In our walks, we frequent the banks
Of small streams, or the bitches which
drain the marshes. we may occasionally
see a dark brown animal about two feet
long, with a slender body and rather
bushy tail, glide from behind a stone un-
der the bottom rail of a fence. from be-
meath the roots Of a tree or possibly from
a hole in the bank, and then disappear
1uSt whcr" we can never quite tell. This
is mink; and If we happen to have a
gun with us. and shoot him before be has
a chance to vanish, we shall he able to
complete our study of his appearance
We shall find that his body is perhaps
twelve or fourteen inches In length. and
his tail about seven or eight inches more
His coat is dark brown on the back. and
yollo9ish brown on the under parts, and
probably We shall find white patch on
his chin, and white stripe on his chest
kinds-a soft woody fur beneath. with
longer and sitter hairs interspersed The
latter, which are smooth and glossy, al
most conceal the finer hair below. Begin
ming with the head, we shall see that it
Is small. with a short nose. beady eyes,
and short broad ears almost concealed by
the thick fur. The neck is long. and much
the same thickness as the body, the ap-
pcarance of which is rather snake-like.
The legs are short and sturdy, and the
toes are connected by short webs. covered
with hair both above and below.
How the small Wild creatures fear tho
mink And we'll they may. for he knows
the flavor of them all. No animal save the
white weasel Is more hloodthirsty than ne,
and even the ermne, that prince of muir
derers. cannot capture his prey in the
water The mink is as much at home in
the water as upon the land; swims and
dives better than any other quadruped of
his size, and the fact that he often dimes
upon trout, proves that fish arc no match
for him. even when they are swimming
for their lives. With incredible speed he
plrsues them through the water. under
logs. and roots, and stones, twisting and
turning as they attempt to double. and,
finally victorious, he brings his prey out
upon the shore to dcvour 1t.
But he often obtains food with much
less trouble, for in the spring. when the
the shallow water in schools all the mink
has to do is to walt on tho shore until they
come near enough to be seized. or until
some Of them are crowded bodily ont of
the water. Then he often gets a chance
to rob a human fisherman and never fails
to avail himself of ii. Such opportunities
arise when an angler, having caught a
number of fish, leaves his string upon
the bank. while he proceeds to whip an
other section Of the stream, If there are
minks about. his fish will he missing who II
he returns, and if he searches long enough
he may find their partly eaten remains UNI
der some overhangng bank, or beno ath
the half submerged root of a tree.
But the mink does not spend all his time
fishing; he is one of the most skillful of
hunters, and he makes the most of his
ability. Like the ermine, he follows his
game ny scent, and generally kills 1t by
cutting the main blood vessels Of the neck
with his teeth. His bill of fare is a long
one, and includes rats and mice, squirrels
chipmunks, rabbits muskrats, birds. birds
eggs. frogs. crawfsh and freshwater mus
els He Is also a confirmed poultry thief
and having a narrow gauge" body. he
can enter the henhousc by a very small
hole. But, be II said to his credit, he kills
for food only; not for sheer love of slaugh-
ter, like his cousin the ermine; and where
the latter will kill forty or fifty chickens
in a night, one or two will usually satisfy
the ambition of mink. Ducks, both
Young and old, and fowls which drink from
brooks and ponds, are particularly liable
to attack; for their enemy studies Their
habits pretty closely, and the female mink
often makes her nest near n stream M
some point frequented by poultry. This
nest may be among the rocks, in hol
low log, under the roots OF a tree whiCf
overhangs the water; in hole which the
animal has made In the bank. or IN tho