. Cyclopedia of farm animals. Domestic animals; Animal products. FUR-BEARING ANIMALS FUR-BEARING ANIMALS 401 chievousand destructive habits, the ermine is rather, perhaps, a benefactor than an enemy to the farmer, ridding his fields and granaries of many depredators on the product of his labor, such as the white-footed mouse, the pine-mouse, the ground-squirrel, the rat and the common house mouse, which would devour ten times the value of the poultry and eggs that at long and uncertain intervals it may destroy. The skin of the little animal had become practi- cally so valueless a few years ago
. Cyclopedia of farm animals. Domestic animals; Animal products. FUR-BEARING ANIMALS FUR-BEARING ANIMALS 401 chievousand destructive habits, the ermine is rather, perhaps, a benefactor than an enemy to the farmer, ridding his fields and granaries of many depredators on the product of his labor, such as the white-footed mouse, the pine-mouse, the ground-squirrel, the rat and the common house mouse, which would devour ten times the value of the poultry and eggs that at long and uncertain intervals it may destroy. The skin of the little animal had become practi- cally so valueless a few years ago that the hunters scarcely secured more than five cents each for it. Today it is worth twenty-five cents to a dollar each. Naturalists do not agree as to whether the apparent change of color from summer brown to winter white is effected by shedding the old hair, the new coat growing another shade, or whether the hair actually changes color itself. The marten (Mustek, Americana, Fig. 410), also called the pine-marten, and American sable, is larger than the mink, and almost always lighter in color. The body is slender, the head long and pointed, legs short and stout, eyes small and black, tail bushy and cylindrical. Its coat contains two kinds of hair, the outer long and rigid, the inner soft and somewhat woolly. The length from point of nose to root of tail is about eighteen inches. The color varies considerably in different individ- uals, but is generally yellowish, shaded more or less with black, the throat being yellow. The darkest skins are the most valuable. Its food consists of birds, mice, squirrels and other small animals, and it climbs trees with great facility. It is so easily caught in traps that it has been exterminated in many parts of Canada and the northern states where it was once abundant. Where the Indians have properly preserved hunting-grounds, this val- uable fur-bearing animal is as carefully preserved as is the beaver. It is by no means unusual for a good
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