Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-03-24

ton of the field, and uncovered a sub
way system which for completely out
did the underground railways in any
of our large cities. The tunnels ran
far out into the field, sometimes in
long, irregular single loops, and some
times crossing and recrossing other
tunnels, until it was no easy matter
to trace them. But all the tunnels led
to the hole into which l had accident
ally stepped, and this was very sug-
gestive of a great railroad terminus.
The whole represented no insignificant
engineering feat on the part of the
rats, which had evidently been hunt
ing for grains of corn, for it was a
cornfield they had been working in,
and the gnawed husks, here and there,
showed that they had probably had at
least some success,
Later in the afternoon, | came to
another cornfield where, for some rea-
son the shocks had been left since fall.
Many of them were still standing, but
| some had been blown over by the wind,
which had also swept away much of
the snow, leaving in many places not
more than an inch. The surface of
this, particularly between the shocks,
was marked by narrow ridges, which
indicated as plainly as a map could
have done the routes taken by some
small animals in their journeys from
one shock to another. By carefully
scraping away the surface snow,
found that the ridges were the roofs
of tunnels made by meadow mice, and
| presently verified the observation by
suddenly opening one of the shocks, to
see several dark-brown, short-tailed
thieves scurrying away amongst the
cornstalks.
Going along a country road a few
days later, l came upon the track of
a mink. The visible part of the trasl
ended abruptly at a hole in the snow
and some 20 yards further on reap
peared at another hole. Between the
two holes there vas a tunnel. and the
mink had evidently traversed the
length of it. Now why had he gone in
there? The surface vas firm enough
to bear his weight. Doubtless he knew
that under the deep snow are to be
found many of the small creatures or
which he preys, and doubtless he has
enough success in hunting them to pay
him for his trouble. 1t would be in
teresting to know whether he captures
the mice by running them down al
they are tunnelling through the snow
1t must be a fearful moment for {
mouse when he hears a mink steadily
overtaking him and at the same tint
blocking all retreat. And the mini
himself, what stories he might tell us
il he spoke the English language. Hi
accounts of his own deeds would dwar
the biographies of Jesse James and tn,
Younger brothers, and Of their imita
tors whose names appear from time Il
time in the foot-high, scare-you-stif
headings Of the yellow journals. H
could tell us of muskrats murdered II
the darkness of their burrows; of rab
bits tracked to their death in tn
moonlight, and of the pitiless cuttinI
off of grouse imprisoned beneath tn
icy crust Of the snow. Aye, little W
know as W Q tramp across the whit
country on our snowshoes, what prob
lens are being solved, what lives ar
being led, what tragedies are being en-
acted beneath our feet. But each stor
which comes to light. no matter no,
full Of pathos 1t may be, tells US nor
clearly than the last. that it is wit
animals as with men-those which al
fit to survive will survive. and thos
which are unfit will 60 to the wall.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNEs.