254 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



Weasels are extraordinarily fearless of man- 

 kind, and will soon become so regardless of him 

 as to be positively tame. In the West miners 

 and hunters often welcome them to their cabins 

 and establish very friendly relations with them, 

 recognizing that they keep the premises free 

 from the wild mice, which otherwise would in- 

 fest the houses and play havoc with supplies 

 brought in at great expense and labor. This is 

 only a return to a very ancient practice, for, 

 as I have shown in my Life of Mammals, the 

 household mouser of the Greeks was. not a cat, 

 but a weasel the European stone-marten. 



Life of the mink. The mink is a semi- 

 aquatic weasel. It inhabits the whole of the 

 United States, excepting the arid regions, 

 which are unfitted for its habits of life. It is 

 a species of great economic importance, both 

 on account of the value of its fur and on ac- 

 count of its injurious habits. As an enemy to 

 the poultry yard it ranks ahead of all other 

 North-American mammals. Furthermore, it 

 kills large numbers of fish, as it not only swims 

 and dives with facility, but can remain long 

 under water, pursuing and capturing its prey 



