THE HAYMAKER OF THE HEIGHTS 27 



Possibly the cony carried by the weasel was 

 another cony. Just what may have become 

 of Rocky I cannot be sure. Possibly he was 

 crushed by the settling of the rock walls of his 

 house; a fox, eagle, or weasel may have seized 

 him. But at any rate, I never saw him again 

 that I know of, and that autumn no busy little 

 haymaker appeared in the meadow among the 

 boulders. 



The weasel is the most persistent and effective 

 enemy of the cony. Evidently he is dreaded by 

 them. Bears, lions, coyotes, foxes, and eagles 

 occasionally catch a cony; but the weasel often 

 does. The weasel is agile, powerful, slender 

 bodied, and can follow a cony into the smaller 

 hiding places of the den and capture him. Dur- 

 ing winter he is the snow-white ermine, and in 

 white easily slips up over the snow unseen. He 

 can outrun, outdodge a cony, and then, too, he 

 is a trained killer. From the weasel there is 

 no escape for the cony. 



During winter rambles in cony highlands I 

 occasionally discovered a stack of hay on the 

 surface. Most stacks are moved into the dens 

 before winter is on. 



When a stack is left outside it commonly 

 means that either the stack is exceptionally 

 well sheltered from wind and snow, and in easy 

 and safe reach of the cony, or else the little 



