THE BEECH WOODS 



tail. Down by the flats of the creek 

 the twin records of the mink were to 

 be seen where he had wandered from 

 tree to tree and from stump to stump. 

 By the bank he had found an opening 

 in a hollow log and had gone through 

 it in the hope of capturing a rabbit, but 

 only his tracks emerged from the far- 

 ther end. Later, he came to the track 

 of a rabbit and followed it for a short 

 distance, but left it for some other pur- 

 suit. Beside the fences and in the open 

 a tiny, trailing impression followed 

 here and there, always from one object 

 to another. These were the furtive 

 imprints of the mice, in desperate haste 

 seeking a needed meal far from their 

 hidden retreats in the tunnels below 

 the snow. They braved the dangers of 

 the cold and all their natural enemies 

 and courted swift death in the forms of 

 the owl, fox, mink and weasel. 



Of all the tracks, the cottontail's is 

 the most easily read. Each movement 

 is registered as plainly as if he were 

 before one. The Neighbour followed 

 his trail and saw where he had stopped 

 to nibble at a young tree. Evidently it 

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