A Furcoated Fish 



course to watch. Whenever the turtle would put forth 

 its head or flippers, the mink would snap ; but so long 

 as the turtle remained within his shell, the mink was 

 powerless to harm. The contest seemed to be a stand- 

 off, for though the turtle could not regain the water, 

 neither could the mink bite through the shell. When 

 the mink saw us, it suspended operations upon the 

 turtle and regarded us fearlessly, arching its back and 

 darting its head in and out with a curious snaky 

 motion. 



I threw one of our few remaining minnows on the 

 shore, and the mink left the turtle and ran toward 

 the minnow. The beast was almost incredibly swift, 

 and its snaky movements were accentuated by the ob- 

 stacles in its path. It seemed to glide over these in- 

 stead of climbing them. For a moment it sniffed 

 here and there, seeming to use its nose instead of its 

 eyes. Then it located the minnow and pounced on it. 

 In an instant that minnow was inside the mink. 



A brilliant thought came to me, and I reeled in my 

 line and made a cast to shore. The mink picked up 

 my bait and I struck and hooked the beast. Instantly 

 it darted into a near-by brush pile, and for a few mo- 

 ments I " played " it there ; then I pulled it out and 

 into the water. 



For excitement bass fishing is nothing to mink fish- 

 ing; but I prefer it. A bass is limited, so to speak. 

 It won't leave the water to run about on land, neither 



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