34: RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



while the mink had its jaws buried in the snapper's 

 throat, and it, too, held on, although t'he snapper kept his 

 head moving in and out, all the time, in such a way that 

 the back of the mink's head was being rubbed against 

 the edge of the top shell, and was now all raw and bleed- 

 ing. The snapper was making for the ditch, twenty 

 yards off, but moved pretty slowly. I took hold of him 

 by the tail, and, holding him up, put my foot on the 

 mink and pulled hard. It was no use. Neither let go, 

 and it was a question of the turtle's tail or the mink's 

 leg. Then I tried poking the snapper with my cane, 

 and finally he gave a snap at the stick, but was too much 

 encumbered by the mink's clutch of his throat to seize 

 it. The mink, however, didn't mean to let go, for, when 

 I held the turtle well up from the ground, it still held 

 on, dangling in the air, and apparently dead. A smart 

 rap on the head, while swinging in the air, made him let 

 go at last ; but the broken leg and loss of blood had used 

 him up, and he lay on the ground, not dead, but dying." 

 This is my " note " of more than twenty years ago. It 

 is among the first of my field-notes, and I let it stand, as 

 I wrote it, while rambling about Crosswicks meadows. 

 Ever since I have admired the pluck of the mink, for 

 here was a case where, for a considerable time, under the 

 most painful circumstances, with its body describing a 

 nearly complete circle, it had firmly maintained its grip, 

 determined to sell its life as dearly as possible. 



That the mink has been able to hold its own, even in 

 thickly-settled districts, is due to the fact that it possesses 

 advantages which have enabled it to elude the persecu- 

 tion to which, at times, all our mammals are subjected. 

 Among these are an acute sense of smell, so that it can 

 scent danger from afar, and a high rate of speed when 

 chased " in the open." Like the little weasel, it can also 



