2S2 Union Bay 



the disappearance of the bullfrog. At one time the bullfrog's 

 voice was heard as regularly as the automobile horns at some 

 village intersection, but now it is almost silent. Certainly the 

 otters like them, for nearly every time I have seen them they 

 were fishing for and catching bullfrogs in the shallow, rush- 

 filled water of the west margin. 



Naturally solitary and never present in great numbers, the 

 otters are not plentiful in the state of Washington. Trapping 

 disposes of many of them during the season, and as the fur, 

 though heavy, is rich and durable, the pressure will unques- 

 tionably increase rather than diminish. In the marsh there 

 is no probability that they will again be permanent. Their 

 competition with other marsh animals can be regarded as 

 negligible. 



In terms of baseball my batting average remained high. 

 My next hit came unexpectedly: after passing a short stretch 

 and rounding a small bend, I caught sight of a weasel stand- 

 ing on a bank. Movement frightens some animals and they 

 immediately dart away. But I think that it was the move- 

 ment of the canoe that attracted and held the weasel. It must 

 have stopped short while it was crossing a low branch, for 

 its head was erect, its small forefeet were on the wood, and 

 its rear feet were still on the ground. The creature was hand- 

 some, graceful, sinuous, with tannish-brown back and yellow 

 underparts. Small head, white throat, and bright beady eyes 

 gave it a somewhat sinister appearance. 



Except that it is not a regular eater of fish, the weasel 

 might be described as a smaller edition of a mink, equally 

 efficient, active, and bold. I am quite sure that it does not 

 enter the water regularly, although in the marsh I have seen 

 it most often close to the water in the growth along the banks 

 and on sticks and logs. I have met it less than the other mem- 

 bers of the quintet, but the canoehouse manager sees it much 

 oftener than he does the mink. When a weasel hunts around 



