192 FOREST LIFE IN ACADIE. 



I 



small dog can neither crack the latter, nor those of 

 the beaver." 



Mr. Andrew Downs, the well-known Nova Scotian 

 practical naturalist, says he has often found porcu- 

 pine-quills in the fisher's stomach on skinning the 

 animal. 



The fisher is becoming rare in the forests of Acadie. 

 According to Dr. Gilpin, a hundred and fifty to two hun- 

 dred is the usual annual yield of skins in Nova Scotia, 

 and these chiefly come from the Cobequid range of hills 

 in Cumberland. 



The length of the animal, tail included, is from forty 

 to fifty inches, of which the tail would be about 

 eighteen. 



THE MINK (Putorius vison, Aud. and Bach.) is much 

 more a water-side frequenter than the last described 

 animal, and indeed is quite aquatic in its habits, being 

 constantly seen swimming in lakes like the otter, which 

 it somewhat resembles in its taste for fish and frogs. 

 The mink has, moreover, a strong propensity to maraud 

 poultry yards, and is trapped by the settler, not only in 

 self-defence, but also on account of the two, three, or 

 even five dollars obtainable for a good skin. The general 

 colour is dark, reddish-brown, and the fur is much used 

 for caps, boas and muffs. It is a rich and beautiful fur, 

 finer though shorter than that of the marten. 



The droppings of the mink may be seen on almost 

 every flat rock in the forest brook, and where their runs 

 approach the water's edge, perhaps leading through a gap 

 between thickly-growing fir stems, are placed the nume- 

 rous traps devised to secure the prize by settlers and 



