FOXES AND OTHER NEIGHBORS 251 



and thereafter his three-footed tracks were unmis- 

 takable in the snow. He was never caught in a trap 

 again, but contrived to extract the bait over and 

 over, to the rage of the trappers, who made com- 

 mon cause against him with dogs and guns. For 

 three years he eluded them, till Old Stub had begun 

 to be a kind of hero. Finally he was brought to 

 bay and shot. 



How much the snow has to do with the fate of 

 forest animals is well illustrated by the records of 

 wildcat bounties. In 1916, when the snow was the 

 deepest in at least a generation, twenty-eight cats 

 were accounted for in our county. The previous 

 year but fifteen were killed, and the next winter, 

 when the snow was very light, only eight. 



Of course the wildcats and foxes are not the only 

 wild animals in our woods which subsist on flesh. 

 To the number must be added mink, weasels, otters 

 (largely a fish-eating mammal), raccoons (which 

 also eat corn and other vegetable products), and 

 skunks. Mink, weasels, and skunks are closely 

 akin. The 'coon (which does not show any serious 

 signs of extermination) is said to belong to the bear 

 family. All of these animals, particularly the mink, 

 are sought for their fur, and the otter, especially, is 

 becoming extremely rare. However, it is a curious 

 fact that in the last three or four years there are 

 signs that the otters are growing more numerous 

 again, or, better, less infrequent ; and this is undoubt- 

 edly due to the fact that the scarcity of them, and 

 of other fur-bearing animals, has gradually forced 

 the older trappers into other occupations, while the 

 younger generation is hardly trained at all in wood- 



