MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. 119 
_ writer noticed an object, which appeared like a ball some six 
or eight inches in diameter, rolling toward the water; and 
soon ascertained that it was a Mink and a Muskrat clinched 
together, and so completely covered with mud as not to have 
been at first recognized. At his approach, the Mink released 
its hold and make its escape; but the Muskrat was already 
dying of severe wounds in the head and neck, from which the 
blood was flowing profusely. The Muskrat had evidently been | 
captured and overcome in fair fight by broad daylight, and the 
Mink would have devoured its victim had not the hunter inter- 
fered. It is also destructive to our native rats and mice—the 
Arvicolas, Hesperomys, Sigmodon, and Neotoma, it is known to 
capture Rabbits, especially the Lepws palustris, its associate in 
many marshy or swampy tracts; while its not infrequent vis- 
its to the poultry-yard have gained for it the hearty ill-will of 
the farmer. Various marsh-inhabiting birds are enumerated 
in the list of its prey, among them the rails and several 
smaller species; and we may presume that it does not spare 
their eggs. Butmost birds are removed from its attack; for the 
Mink is notaclimber, atleast toany extent. In respect to poul- 
_ try, its destructiveness seems to result rather from the regularly 
repeated visits of an animal that has located in the vicinity 
than the wholesale slaughtering sometimes accomplished by the 
Ermine. According to those who have excellent opportunity of 
judging, the Mink does not as a rule kill more than it eats. 
Still, the opposite case has been recorded. Its modes of hunt- 
ing offer nothing peculiar. Like the Weasel and Stoat, it has 
been known to pursue its prey by scent. 
The Mink often annoys hunters by stealing the game they 
have shot before they have an opportunity of bagging it. An 
incident related by a recent anonymous writer in ‘‘Forest and 
Stream” is in point, and furthermore illustrates the wonderful 
energy and perseverance sometimes displayed by the Mink in 
securing its food. Speaking of a duck-shooting excursion, 
during which some of the birds that had been killed were not 
recovered till next day, the writer goes on to say:—‘‘The first 
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 ofa 
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 
