228 Union Bay 



muskrats in the marsh die a violent death, some at the hands 

 of trappers, others from the attacks of owls, dogs, hawks, 

 and minks. It is almost a law of such communities that the 

 animal which takes its living there shall, at some early or late 

 time, furnish its own carcass as food to the inhabitants of the 

 same area. 



The mink which I saw that morning stood on a log raft 

 and looked at me, if a mink can so look, with a mixture of 

 curiosity and insolence. It loped to the back of the raft, then 

 ran along parallel to the progress of the canoe, stopping only 

 when it reached the last boom stick. Its wariness either is 

 sometimes suspended or is overcome by its inquisitiveness, 

 for often I have let my canoe drift toward it until I could 

 have touched it with my paddle. It did not move until I had 

 to back-water to prevent hitting the shore or a log. Only then 

 would it turn and walk away. It is a member of the weasel 

 family and has many of the weasel habits and much of its 

 structure. It is long, slim, and short-legged. Its habits over- 

 lap with those of the muskrat in that both of them eat frogs, 

 clams, shellfish, and some vegetation as well. But from there 

 on the habits of the two mammals are quite different. I think 

 that it lacks the top swimming ability of the otter, although 

 I have always regarded the mink as a master of its craft. It 

 probably spends more time on the shores and margins of the 

 streams than in the stream itself. That does not mean that it 

 is not at home there, for it is an excellent fisherman, a hunter 

 of aquatic birds and mammals, and an especial enemy of 

 muskrats which it is able to follow into the depths of their 

 burrows. I have always wondered to what extent the brown 

 rats in the nearby sanitary fill are used for food by the mink, 

 and whether the presence of rats reduces the pressure on 

 the muskrat. Mink are known everywhere as excellent rat- 

 ters, and many descriptions have been written of the daring 

 and skill of the attack. The battle, which is said to be very 



