WEASEL FAMILY. 



69 



As a rule, the American mink is somewhat larger than the European; and in 

 both the male is always larger than the female. The American form may vary 

 in length from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail from 15 to IN inches ; 

 while the length of the tail, inclusive of the hair, ranges from about 8 to !' inches, 

 The European mink is an inhabitant of Eastern Europe, occurring at the present 

 day in Poland, Finland, and the greater part of Russia, although unknown to the 

 eastward of the Ural Mountains. The American species ranges over the greater 

 part of North America, although not found in the extreme north of that continent. 

 In its general habits the mink, in both hemispheres, is thoroughly 

 amphibious, and is therefore only found in districts where water is 

 abundant. Indeed, these animals may in this respect be regarded as presenting 

 precisely the same x-elationship to the polecat as is held by the water-vole to the 

 land-vole. The mink, writes Dr. Hart Merriam, "not only swims and dives with 

 facility, but can remain long under water, and pursues and captures fish by follow- 

 ing them under logs or other places from which there is no free escape. It has 

 thus been known to catch as swift and agile a fish as the brook-trout, and Audubon 

 says that he has seen a mink catch a trout of upwards of a foot in length. It is 

 remarkably strong for so small an animal, and a single one has been known to drag 

 a mallard duck more than a mile, in order to get to its hole, where its mate joined 

 in the feast." Generally, the food of the mink consists of various aquatic creatures, 

 such as frogs, crayfish, and molluscs ; but it will also eat various small aquatic 

 mammals, such as voles, as well as mice and rats, while in America it is reported to 

 prey at times upon the comparatively large musquash. Marsh-frequenting birds 

 also fall victims to the mink, and their eggs are probably also consumed. Other 

 wild birds are, however, comparatively safe from the attacks of this animal, as its 

 climbing powers are of the feeblest. Poultry are not unfrequently attacked ; but 

 in these and other attacks the mink does not exhibit that wholesale destructive- 

 ness characteristic of the stoat. In hunting, the mink has been often observed to 

 pursue its prey entirely by scent; and it may be observed on its hunting expedi- 

 tions both by night and by day. 



As a rule, minks appear to be comparatively solitary animals, but Dr. Merriam 

 mentions having once seen three in company. The abode of the mink is usually a 

 hole in the bank of a stream or lake ; and a well-trodden path always leads from 

 the entrance of the burrow down to the water. From such abiding places it 

 appears that the animal will not only make daily excursions for the sake of pro- 

 curing food, but also wander into neighbouring districts, from which it sometimes 

 does not return till after the lapse of a week or two. 



The nests of the mink are situated either in the above-mentioned holes, or in 

 hollow logs, and are generally well lined with feathers and other soft substances. 

 The usual number of young in a litter is from four to six; and in the Adirondack- 

 region of New York these are born early in May, and remain with the female 

 until the following autumn. In America minks have been extensively bred in a 

 semi-domesticated state, for the purpose of being used as ferrets; and in this con- 

 dition it appears that the number of young in a litter may vary from three to as 

 many as ten. The scent characteristic of all the members of the weasel-group is 

 extraordinarily developed in the mink, Dr. Coues observing that in America no 



