228 



THE BADGER AND WEASEL FAMILY. 



ponds are the places where they seek their 

 food and make their retreats. They swim 

 and dive easily and perse veringly, run and 

 jump on the land pretty well, climb very little 

 and never ver)- high, hide in deserted burrows 



Fig. 121. I 111- I'liropean Vison (Pntorius lutreoLi]. 



of rodents which, perhaps, they have devoured, 

 and in clefts in the rocks on the borders of 

 the water, and feed on everything that oppor- 

 tunity offers. But without doubt they prefer 

 fishes, frogs, crabs, and mussels to aquatic 

 birds, water-rats, and field-mice. This mode 

 of feeding explains also, as our otters prove, 

 the large size of the tubercled teeth, which 

 we mentioned in speaking of the dentition. 

 These do not in the least indicate a vegetable 

 diet, as would be the case in a land animal, 

 but serve for the crushing of the hard external 

 skeletons of certain aquatic forms — mussels 

 and crustaceans. 



With respect to keenness of scent, bold- 



ness in attack, persistence in pursuit, and 

 stubbornness in defence, the visons are inferior 

 neither to the martens nor the otters. It would 

 appear, however, that their intelligence is less 

 highly developed. They allow themselves 

 to be caught even in the rudest traps, when 

 the.se are baited with a piece of duck's flesh 

 or the thigh of a frog, and if the trap has 

 caught them by one leg, they gnaw away the 

 limb on the wrong side, while the fox and 

 marten know how to liberate themselves by 

 biting through the cajjtive paw between the 

 trap and the body. 



When caught young visons can easily be 

 tamed. If well cared for they become attached 

 to their owner and obedient. In America 

 they have sometimes been trained for rat- 

 fighting, as has been done with the ferret in 

 Europe. 



Vi.sons are natives of the Arctic regions 

 and northern parts generally. Naturalists are 

 not agreed as to the distinguishing of the 

 species. Some make three distinct species: 

 the Siberian Vison {Putorius sibiricns), con- 

 fined to Ea.stern Siberia, with yellowi.sh-brown 

 fur, long bushy tail, and whitish feet; the 

 European Vison {P. lutreola), fig. 121, of the 

 .size of a ferret and of a brown colour with 

 white spots on the nose, found in the north- 

 east of Europe from the Weser to the Ural; 

 and the American Vison or Mink (P. vison), 

 which is larger and has no white spots. Other 

 naturalists maintain that these three species 

 are only more or less well-marked varieties 

 of a single circumpolar species, which has 

 advanced here and there into the temperate 

 zone. It is certain that there are intermedi- 

 ate forms. In commerce the skins of the 

 American visons are the most highly esteemed, 

 ranking next after those of the sable in price, 

 an estimation which is perfectly justified by 

 the beautiful chestnut-brown colour of the fur, 

 the softness of the thick down, and the glossi- 

 ness of the stronger hairs which scarcely pro- 

 ject beyond the down. 



We mention here a small member of the 



