SAND DUNES AND SALT MAESHES 



but it is easier to find them than the beast 

 itself, which, however, does not appear afraid 

 when seen. I once heard the piteous squeak- 

 ing of a meadow mouse, and saw a weasel 

 bounding along, carrying the dying mouse in 

 his jaws. He dropped it and retired to some 

 bushes, but soon reappeared and bore off his 

 prey, although I stood within a few feet of it. 

 The brown summer coat of the weasel is ex- 

 changed in winter for the royal ermine— pure 

 white with the exception of a black tip to the 

 tail. One winter morning before it was fairly 

 light I was walking to the dunes when I saw 

 what appeared to be a piece of white paper 

 blowing towards me. Within a few feet it 

 suddenly developed into a lovely ermine that 

 scurried b}^ and disappeared among the snow- 

 drifts. 



The mink— midway between the weasel and 

 the otter— is both a land and a water animal. 

 Although I have often seen him on pebbly 

 shores of the ocean bordering on woods, run- 

 ning out slyly and unconscious of my presence 

 as long as I was motionless, I have never 

 caught sight of him on the sandy shore of 

 Ipswich. In the salt marshes, however, he 

 delights to roam both summer and winter, 



54 



