886 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



escapes from shot-guns or dogs decide it to move on. In the 

 hours of the night it goes forth, bounding with high-arched 

 back. Its speed is not great, but, Hke all Weasels, it is possessed 

 of endless strength and doggedness, and though a man can 

 outrun it on the open and outwalk it travelling, its steady 

 bounding may take it miles away before morning. As it 

 journeys it is ever on the alert for guidance from its nose. 

 There are a thousand accidents to turn its steps one way 

 or another; the cluck of a grouse, the rustle of a Mouse 

 in the grass, an easier path, a promising odour in the wind, 

 the wind itself, may each and all give trend to its tireless 

 bounding and bring the hunter at last to some marsh-land 

 of promise, or mayhap another barnyard, wherein it may 

 settle down again to comfort of a kind, taking, undoubtedly, 

 its life in its teeth while doing so, a condition that it has not 

 the wit to think about, and if it had it would simply dismiss 

 the thought, viewing this merely as a normal condition of 

 all existence. The Mink certainly never spent a moment of 

 its life without being under the shadow of impending death, 

 and as certainly it never lost a wink of sleep through thinking 

 about it. 



If surprised during its hunting or suddenly brought face 

 to face with man, it often rises up on its hind-quarters to get a 

 better view; in this position it looks extraordinarily long. I 

 once met one out on the prairie. It rose up to scan me from 

 every one of its twenty-four inches of stature, and stood so till 

 I came within ten feet and removed the top of its head with a 

 thimbleful of sparrow-shot. 



This species is active and tumts chiefly by night, but 

 is often seen in the daytime, especially in the mating season 

 and in the fall. 



CHAR- A tame Otter makes one of the most engaging of pets. 



No normal man ever made a pet of a Weasel, but tame Minks 

 have often proved most docile and interesting little creatures, 

 capable of forming strong attachment, although ever ready to 

 bite when provoked. 



