MINK 



against such enemies. The Weasel kills not only for food, but 

 seemingly for sheer pleasure, and when in the midst of a 

 number of victims slays all. As many as forty chickens have 

 been killed in one night by a single Weasel (fide Bachman) and 

 Kennicott tells of finding a pile of a hundred or more Rats 

 and Mice killed by Weasels. The normal food of Weasels is 

 warm blood which is sucked from the neck or base of the skull 

 of the victim. 



Weasels are curious and bold. When one is discovered it is 

 a simple matter to attract its attention, and even after it has 

 disappeared in a rock-pile a squeak will cause it to reappear 

 almost instantly. This small hunter is so fearless and confident 

 of its powers that it will not hesitate to attack mammals many 

 times its own size, and so rapid are its movements it can dodge 

 anything less rapid than a bullet. Indeed, it is credited with 

 being able to dodge at the flash of a gun and escape even a 

 bullet, but all that I ever shot at either did not possess such 

 speed or else had very bad luck. 



Weasels are easily trapped and enter a trap without suspic- 

 ion. Since they prefer to kill their own game, it is probably 

 curiosity more than hunger that takes them into the trap, in 

 places where wild life is at all abundant. Even in summer, 

 when there was plenty for a Weasel to catch, I have caught 

 them on baits far from fresh. A trapped Weasel is the very 

 picture of baffled frenzy and rage, a furious creature that 

 ounce for ounce would know no master. 



The female Weasel has from four to six or even eight young 

 at a birth and the mother is absolutely fearless in protecting 

 her litter. 



Subgenus Lutreola ^ 

 Dentition: Incisors, f ; Canines, i; Premolars, f ; Molars, | =34. 



Mink. — Mustela vison 



and related forms 



Names.— Mink; American Mink. Plate IX. 



General Description.— A weasel-like mammal nearly as 



large as a small House-cat but much more slender. Body 



^ For a synopsis of this subgenus see N. Hollister, Proceedings U. S 

 National Museum, Vol. 44, pp. 471-480, 1913. 



107 



