578 
there is pretty sure to be complaints of loss of poultry by minks. 
In some cases the trespasser has been caught in the act, but 
probably a weasel or a rat is sometimes the true culprit. 
The mink swims swiftly, with the whole body, except the nose, 
submerged, and dives so skillfully that it can follow and catch 
trout and other active fish. While not an expert climber, it can 
ascend surfaces that furnish a nail-hold, but its active life on land is 
spent chiefly near the ground, creeping through brush and weeds, 
stalking its prey. Observers are not agreed as to whether it digs its 
own burrow or not. Certainly it sometimes takes possession of a 
muskrat’s hole, ejecting the rightful owner. Munks’ nests are also 
found in hollow logs, under old stumps, and in similar localities. 
They are made of soft grass or leaves, and lined with feathers and 
hair. 
If circumstances are favorable for the mink in its preferred re- 
sorts along streams or other bodies of water, its food will be largely 
fish, bugs, crayfish, or mussels, with an occasional muskrat; but 1t is 
apt to forage also, more or less, in the adjoining territory, catching 
mice, rats, and rabbits, and stealing birds’ eggs. Its reputation for 
robbing poultry-yards is well known, though the majority of ob- 
servers agree that, unlike the weasel, the mink seldom kills more than 
two or three fowls at a time. 
The mink produces one litter a year, in Aprilor May. Gestation 
lasts 6 weeks, and the young are 6 to 10 in number. When born 
they are hairless, ‘‘about the size and shape of a little finger,” but 
in a short time they are covered with a soft, thick, glossy fur. The 
young follow the mother till fall. The females are said to develop 
in ten months, while the males require 18 months to reach maturity. 
Whether the mink is, on the whole, a benefit or injury to man 
depends on circumstances. Where mice, voles, rats, and crayfish 
are abundant, its good offices may predominate; but where these are 
lacking, and game-fish, game-birds, or poultry are within its reach, 
the account would surely stand the other way. In either case, so 
long as its pelt is so valuable there is little danger of the mink’s be- 
coming excessively numerous. 
Mink fur is short, but thick and very durable, and the skin, 
though thin, is exceedingly tough. The price of the fur depends 
on its popularity, and consequently varies greatly from year to year. 
