THE MINK 



THE mink track presents some similarity to 

 those of the marten and the black-footed 

 ferret, but it is much smaller than that of 

 the marten, and the toe-marks are even more 

 prominent than those of the ferret, for which it 

 might be mistaken at times if it were not that the 

 form of the trails is different. The mink never 

 travels for long distances without showing at least 

 three tracks plainly in the jump-picture, while 

 the ferret practically never does this. The track 

 of the ferret is found near ice-bound streams only 

 when it crosses them to reach other hunting- 

 grounds, while the mink, being almost as skilful 

 at catching fish as the otter, generally travels 

 along a stream's course. 



In destructiveness to small game the mink is 

 perhaps only equaled by the domestic cat, which, 

 in remote districts, he resembles in the habit of 

 hunting at all hours of the day. 



161 



