90 GROUND AND WATER ENEMIES 



butter, and adds, "It would be a sorry prospect for keep- 

 ers, game and foxes if rabbits were exterminated, for 

 they are the buffers of peace in the community of the 

 woods." 



Wild ducks are in little, if any, danger from foxes 

 when they are taken to the pond, and a low wire such as 

 is pictured in the illustrations of ducks on the water 

 seems to afford protection from many kinds of ground 

 vermin. Anything attempting to get over the wire easily 

 is seen or heard, and the ducks can take wing or swim 

 out of danger. Islands in the ponds are very desirable, 

 as I have observed. They are safe refuges for the ducks 

 from many kinds of vermin, including cats. 



Wolves. — With the exception of the coyote, wolves are 

 unknown in places where ducks are preserved or where 

 they are likely to be preserved before the wolves are ex- 

 tirpated. I have seen the sly coyote hunting ducks about 

 the reedy banks of a Western pond, and once I stopped 

 one just as he was about to pounce on some young mal- 

 lards. Where coyotes occur they should be poisoned, 

 shot, trapped or otherwise controlled, and the nesting 

 and rearing fields of the ducks should be wired against 

 them. 



Minks and Weasels. — Both the mink and the weasel are 

 difficult enemies to deal with. These animals seem to 

 hunt wantonly, and they destroy more than they can 

 eat. The mink has been known to kill more than fifty 

 fowls in a night. Winged vermin is easily seen, and on 

 this account it is more easily controlled. But the mink 

 and the weasel, like other furry vermin, are seldom seen, 

 and often they are hard to exterminate. A good game- 

 keeper quickly will detect their presence, and he should 



