Fisher 939 



after, a Fisher on his track. They followed down the lake about 

 a mile, when the Hare commenced to circle, quite large at first, 

 and continually making the circle smaller, the Fisher always 

 keeping inside the circle of the Hare, and so gaining quite a 

 distance at every round; or rather, not having to run so fast to 

 keep the Hare on his speed, the Fisher seemed to take it very 

 leisurely, until the circle became so small as to end at a point, 

 and the Fisher was there as soon as the Hare, and made short 

 work of him. I had followed down the lake as fast as I could, 

 in hopes of getting a shot, and so had an excellent chance to see 

 the whole manoeuvre, but the Fisher saw me, dragged his 

 prey ashore, and fled into the woods." 



The dietary of the Fisher expands on investigation, fox- 



. KILLER 



Linklater and many others of my trapper friends say they have 

 often heard of Foxes killed by this animal. It runs the Fox 

 like a hound, following all day, till the latter gets tired and 

 takes refuge in a hole, where it is easily dispatched. 



Half as heavy again as the Fox, and twice as much of a coon- 



KILLER 



fighter, is the common Raccoon, yet it stands in awe of the 

 Fisher, and Dr. Coues says:" 



"It may not be generally known that the Pekan success- 

 fully assaults an animal as large as the Raccoon; indeed, that 

 the abundance of the latter in some districts depends in a 

 measure upon the rarity of the former. The following letter, 

 addressed to Professor Baird, in 1857, by Peter Reid, of 

 Washington County, N. Y., sufficiently attests these facts: 



"'Raccoons are more numerous here now than they were 

 at the first settlement of the country, or for some time subse- 

 quent. Thirty years ago they were so seldom found that 

 many boys fifteen or eighteen years old had scarcely seen one. 

 Before the increase of their numbers I once witnessed a cir- 

 cumstance that satisfied my mind on this score. Whilst 

 hunting, early one winter, I found the carcass of a freshly killed 

 sheep, and by the tracks around it in the light snow perceived 



" Fur-bearing Anim., 1877, pp. 73-4. 



