IN THE WOODS 1 69 



is thrown up and broken in a broad irregular line which shows that 

 the earth under it is also upheaved. That must be the work of 

 the pine mouse and here in the woods where the leaves are thick 

 the grOimd is mellow and unfrozen and he should not be hard 

 to catch. The mink waits only to make certain where the mouse 

 has stopped, then as he sees the snow crust moving, he leaps to 

 the spot, his paws work like lightning, and in an instant his teeth 

 close upon the helpless victim. The warm blood tastes good and 

 he would be content with that if food were plentiful but now 

 after a three days fast the flesh can not be wasted and so the 

 mouse is quickly devoured. 



Rut we can not continue to follow the fortunes of the mink 

 for there are other things of interest in the woods. The brook, 

 too, contains a variety of animal life. The Johnny Darter and the 

 Miller's Thumb dart through its swift current searching for food 

 even though the waters be cold and their distant relatives, the 

 cat-fish and the carp, may be lying torpid in the mud at the 

 bottom of the river. 



Under the rocks the larvae of the stone flies are hiding, 

 together with leeches, sow-bugs and a host of other creatures. 

 The dobson, choicest of bait for the black bass, is also here and 

 those black lumps that seem to be glued to the rocks are water 

 snails. Both they and the cray-fish which live here in the stream 

 can remain active in the coldest weather when their relatives on 

 the dry land must close their doors and stay in winter quarters. 



Tadpoles swim about in the quiet pools which remain unfrozen 

 but bury themselves in the mud as soon as ice begins to form. 

 Their parents, the frogs, are hidden under the thick carpet of 

 leaves which covers the floor of the forest or else they too are 

 buried in the muddy bottoms of the ponds so deeply that the 

 frost can not reach them but not so deeply that a week of warm 

 weather will not bring them croaking into activity. 



The animals with the long slender bodies that dart about 

 and hide beneath the rocks are young salamanders, first cousins 

 of the frogs. When they become fully grown they will leave the 

 water and make their homes under rocks and .decaying logs in 

 the woods and fields. Most people who see them then will call 

 them lizards but young lizards do not live in the water and they 

 have scales like a snake instead of a soft moist skin such as the 

 salamanders always have. 



