150 THE PINE -MARTEN. 



geese, turkeys, even cats anything that suggests 

 a meal and a lively exchange of civilities. At the 

 same time, it is not entirely unknown for a wild 

 marten to enter a Canadian trading-post and steal 

 dried fish or other such stores, intended as, though 

 not really fit for, woodsmen's food. Indeed, I 

 heard once of a marten which was caught in a 

 store-room owing to its inquisitive investigation 

 of a patent trap lying on the bench for demon- 

 stration purposes, and this at no great distance 

 from Toronto city. 



The marten will pursue hares and rabbits in just 

 the same manner as does a stoat, and in the case 

 of a well-seasoned hare the chase is often of con- 

 siderable length. This may be owing to the fact 

 that the pine-marten is scentless, and therefore 

 incapable of exercising upon the fugitive the 

 same hypnotic effect as do its musk-tainted 

 relatives. (It cannot be doubted that the stink of 

 stoat or weasel is as fear-inspiring to its normal 

 prey as is the very sight of the beast itself, for 

 many animals well able to defend themselves, such 

 as foxes and cats, will turn away in fear from that 

 ominous taint.) 



The pine-marten is an expert swimmer, and has 

 been known to live by hunting such creatures as 

 musk-rats and beavers, so no doubt it just as readily 

 hunts water-voles and gray rats, whose swimming 

 powers would not suffice to save them from it. In 

 common with its near relative, the fisher which, 

 by the way, does practically everything except fish 

 the marten can be said to hunt for fish only in 

 so far as it will attack partially stranded speci- 

 mens, lying in such shallow water that they are 

 unable to escape ; though one or two authorities 

 hold that this animal will systematically work 



