. Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders . nd low, scarcely extending beyond the fur in thevicinity; they are rounded, and well furred on bothsides. The feet are somewhat pointed and small, andthe legs are short. Over the snow the tracks of themink are mingled in one regular and rather deep fur-row, quite different in this respect from the rhyth-mical tracks of the marten. On the sandy river beachthe tracks are also a trifle mixed, and are easily recog-nized on this account. The mink is a handsome animal, with a beautiful,long, very dark-brown or blackish
. Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders . nd low, scarcely extending beyond the fur in thevicinity; they are rounded, and well furred on bothsides. The feet are somewhat pointed and small, andthe legs are short. Over the snow the tracks of themink are mingled in one regular and rather deep fur-row, quite different in this respect from the rhyth-mical tracks of the marten. On the sandy river beachthe tracks are also a trifle mixed, and are easily recog-nized on this account. The mink is a handsome animal, with a beautiful,long, very dark-brown or blackish fur, and black,bushy tail; beneath, his body is irregularly patched with white. He is tolerably abundant in the Adiron- 1/ dack woods; occasionally he is found on the borders 147 148 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. of the woodland lakes of northern New Hampshire,and rarely he is met with in the wilder parts ofMassachusetts. The prey of this thoroughly aquatic mammal,which, somewhat web-footed, swims and dives like afish, consists of mice, rats, muskrats, birds, eggs, fish,. The Mink. frogs, crayfish, and fresh-water mussels. He is, likethe weasel, the particular enemy of the rat, who, itis said, gives no battle, but yields at once; the minksevers the main blood-vessels of the neck so skillfullythat the deed is scarcely observable.* Occasionallythe animal enters the henhouse or the poultry yardand makes away with a number of chickens and ducks;but, unlike the weasel, he does not proceed to wan-ton murder. He takes one chicken at a time, andmost likely devours it, flesh, bones, and all; then, ifhe feels like it, he helps himself to another. When, * Fur-bearing Animals. Elliott Coues.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorma, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
