940 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Cranes will wade into the water and take all that comes within reach of their long bills 

 whether frogs, snakes, or fish. But they are very few in number, and the trout are wary. 

 If any of these birds appear, shoot them. Muskrats sometimes get into the ponds. They 

 can not often catch the trout, but will destroy the young and the spawn if they can get at 

 the troughs, and they eat many of the insects on which the trout feed, besides they make holes 

 in the banks of the ponds and let the water off. A few traps will soon dispose of them. 

 They will make a little bare path, or run on the edge of the bank, by always going in and out 

 at the same place. Then set a trap (a common game trap, such as is sold in all country stores) 

 in the water, so that the plate of the trap will come in the middle of the run and about half an 

 inch under water, taking care to place the jaws of the trap in such a direction that when shut 

 they will be in a line with the run. Then stake the chain in deep water. No bait is necessary. 



Water snakes can not do any damage to the large trout, but will certainly eat all the 

 little fish they can get hold of. Even if they do no injury, they are not of any advantage, 

 and may as well be disposed of. Cray-fish very seldom eat the young fish. They will lie on 

 the bottom, hidden in the mud, with the joint of the claw wide open and ready; then if any 

 unfortunate troutling passes within reach, his doom is sealed. Cray-fish do much more 

 mischief by their burrowing propensities. They will make holes out of the pond, or from 

 one pond to another, through which the water escapes, and very often the young fish also. 

 The cray-fish is the scavenger of the water, and it may be a question whether a few of them 

 will not do as much good, by disposing of decaying animal matter, as they do harm by 

 destroying a few fish; but they will eat spawn and the fry still encumbered with the sac. 

 The greatest fear of all fish-raisers is that their fish will be stolen at night. A few old logs, 

 stones, and branches of trees strewn on the bottom of the pond, will make it impossible to 

 drag the pond with a seine. Catching them by hook and line is the only means; and if the 

 fish are well fed daily, it will take more time to catch a mess than thieves can usually spare. 



Trout also find enemies in their own kind. The only way to stop them from feeding 

 on each other is to give them plenty of other food. It may be as well, perhaps, not to feed 

 them on small fish, unless these are chopped up fine, for the reason that trout soon accustom 

 themselves to certain kinds of food, and will refuse anything strange. If they get into the 

 habit of feeding on small fish, they will not be likely to make a distinction between trout and 

 any other fish. Certain old trout also become destructive to their brethren. Like the 

 &quot;rogue-elephants,&quot; and the &quot;man-eaters,&quot; among lions and tigers, they become morose and 

 sullen, live apart from the rest, and make war upon everything around. When you find one of 

 this kind, spear him at once, as there is no cure, and he will invariably destroy more than he is 

 worth. It may be worth while to mention here how one trout eats another. An old trout 

 will catch a smaller one, in some cases one-half of its own size, by the middle, and with its 

 strong jaws hold it fast and swim around with it, while the prisoner worries and struggles to 

 get free. This performance lasts until the victim gets loose or is exhausted, being continued 

 sometimes for a half a day. If the little fellow gets free, it is usually to die only a lingering 

 death; for the breaking of the skin is fatal. When it is exhausted, the old rogue, dropping 

 his victim, which until this time he has held by the middle, seizes it again by the head, and 

 slowly swallows it whole; the operation sometimes taking several hours, and while in progress 

 making the fish look as if it had no head, but only a tail at each end. 



In some localities minks are very destructive. These animals are particularly to be 

 dreaded because they do not only kill what fish they want to eat, but will take out fifty or 

 one hundred before they stop, and having found a well stocked pond, they will resort to it 

 again and again. The best way to trap them is as follows: &quot;Make a box eighteen inches 

 long by six inches broad and deep, leaving one end open, set a common game trap (such as 

 used for catching muskrats) in the open end of the box in such a position that when the jaws 

 are closed they will be in a line with the length of the trap. If it is set cross-ways it will be 

 apt to throw the mink out instead of catching it. Put the bait in the further end of the box 

 a piece of meat or a dead fish will answer for bait set the trap, and cover it over with a 

 large leaf. Now, there is only one way for the mink to get at the bait, which is by working 

 over the trap. Some trout-breeders also try to raise minks for profit, as their skins are 

 valuable; but their habits of eating fish, and their custom of getting out of almost any box 

 or yard in which they are confined do not make them agreeable neighbors for the trout. 

 The fish farmer can always tell by looking at his trout in the morning whether they have 

 been disturbed during the night. If they have been molested, whether by birds, minks, or 

 men, they will appear excited and frightened. The water will be discolored by the mud 

 which they stir up as they dart back and forth near the bottom, and the trout will be nearly 

 all hidden under stones or in the moss.&quot; 



