MINK 



The mink ranges over most of North America 

 and is a valuable fur bearer. It prefers running 

 water and usually follows stream courses when 

 hunting, but may also make long trips overland. 

 Food items include fish, crustaceans, rodents, 

 and birds. 



KILLING HABITS 



Like the weasel, the mink may kill more birds 

 in one night than can be utilized, and often eats 

 only the head of its victim. 



CONTROL 



Minks are wary and difficult to catch, and care 

 must be taken in placing traps. Use No. 1 or 

 No. IK steel traps, and set them around log jams, 

 hollow logs, or other natural tunnels, such as 

 where the animals go in and out of the water. 

 Use water sets, dirt-hole sets, or blind sets. 



FOX 



Foxes are distributed over most of North 

 America, and are equally at home on farmlands, 

 primitive areas, plains, or mountains. Their 

 diet includes small animals, birds, carrion, fruits, 

 and berries. They are variously classified as fur 

 bearers or predators, and may transmit rabies 

 to man and to domestic animals during epidemics 

 of the disease. They usually range within an 

 area about 3 miles across. 



KILLING HABITS 



The fox will usually take one fowl and depart 

 from the premises, leaving behind only a few 

 drops of blood and feathers. Occasionally it may 

 kill more than one bird, and an attempt will be 

 made to carry tliem away. The animal can climb 

 over a wire fence of considerable height. 



CONTROL 



Care should be taken when trapping for foxes, 

 as they detect and avoid poorly placed traps. 

 Use No. 2 steel traps, preferably the coil-spring 

 type, and make sets along known routes of travel 

 such as trails, ridges, or fence rows, or where the 

 fox enters the poultry yard. Blind sets, water 

 sets, and dirt-hole sets are all effective. 



RATS 



While rats are not classified as carnivores, they 

 are ruthless killers of domestic poultry and wild 

 birds. These rodents often live in open fields 

 the year around, particularly in coastal regions 

 and the southern States. Their attacks on poultry 

 and their destruction of eggs are often erroneously 

 blamed on other wild animals. 



KILLING HABITS 



Rats kill adult birds by slitting the throat, 

 and may take both eggs and young chicks from a 

 setting hen without disturbing her. They usually 

 carry their prey to secluded spots, often piling 

 the victims in a corner or dragging them into 

 burrows. Although both rats and weasels may 

 kill wantonly and leave their victims in a pile, the 

 rat usually feeds on more of the carcasses than 

 does the weasel. 



CONTROL 



Rats that prey on poultry are hard to kill with 

 poison bait if they have acquired a preference for 

 warm blood, and such animals may have to be 

 trapped. Use steel or snap traps baited with 

 bloody meat scraps, or placed without bait in rat 

 runways. When making a runway set, enlarge 

 the trigger with a piece of cardboard, and place 

 the trap so that the enlarged trigger lies across the 

 route of travel. Since rats prefer to run along 

 walls or behind objects, these are excellent sites. 

 Traps may be nailed in place along sills, header 

 boards, rafters, or other locations where rats climb. 

 After predation has been stopped, the remaining 

 rats can best be controlled with poison. 



