HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MINK. 179 



securing its food. Speaking of a duck-shooting excursion, 

 daring which some of the birds that had been killed were not 

 recovered till next day, the writer goes on to say : — '^ The hrst 

 spot which claimed attention, was where our • hen mallard' 

 had ' struck hard pan.' Here was a sight ! feathers and blood 

 marked the scene of a terrific struggle for what remained of a 

 duck's life. Here, for at least ten feet in circuit, the snow, 

 grass and twigs, were whipped into a confused mass, here and 

 there besprinkled with blood, and quite as often decorated 

 with feathers ; then there was a trail, leading directly to the 

 river bank, and out upon the ice ; the trail thence proceeded 

 up the bank of the river on the ice for about half a mile, when 

 it disappeared directly in line of a hole in the bank, where we 

 discovered the bird half buried, head foremost, into a hole 

 about one-half the size of the body, frozen stiff. When discov- 

 ered we worked, not without diflSculty, at the extrication of the 

 bird. It required all our force to draw it out, when, as it broke 

 from its fastenings, two large minks suddenly appeared, and 

 darted back into their retreat, the last we saw of the varmints 

 after a half hour of close watching. The ground along the 

 shore was rough, covered with heavy grass, brush, drift wood, 

 and many willows. Here the natural obstacles precluded the 

 possibility of such a trip by land, and the little piece of engi- 

 neering practiced by this one mink, in capturing and convey- 

 ing home its prize was truly marvellous. That there was but 

 one mink, the trail bore direct evidence throughout its entire 

 length from the scene of the struggle. As we followed the line, 

 we could easily trace the wide trail of the mallard, as it was 

 dragged bodily along over the fresh snow, and the deep pene- 

 tration of its claws into the new ice, spoke volumes of the force 

 exerted by that small animal in the completion of so severe 

 an undertaking, and the excessive amount of mini' poicer ex- 

 pended in the completion ot a successful foraging expedition. 

 Here and there throughout the line of trail were frequent halt- 

 ing places, where our mink had stopped for a rest. Every 

 time there appeared numerous tracks around the body of its 

 victim, as though pleased to inspect its trophy before the next 

 heat, and then as the distance shortened, the strokes of its tail 

 at regular intervals of march, marked upon the snow upon either 

 side of the trail the determined intention of the animal to go 

 through with its meat before it was too cold to squeeze into a 

 small space, where the sharp frost would soon fix it perma- 



