Who Killed Cock Robin? 283 



other creature, probably a mink, had killed it and the rat was 

 performing a useful duty as a scavenger. 



And thus it is that the mink which I have watched for 

 many years, and which I am quite sure is locally limited to 

 perhaps a dozen pairs, is charged with the destruction of 

 the young ducks, while hundreds of brown rats, persistent 

 destroyers and hunters of eggs and young birds, are entirely 

 overlooked as predators, though they are feared and hunted 

 as possible carriers of disease. This attitude toward the mink 

 is held in spite of the fact that it is a hunter of rodents as 

 well as of birds. It probably devotes much of its time locally 

 to the destruction of rats, which are easily taken when young 

 and which can always be found in the area. The mink is not 

 a gregarious creature like the rat. Annual trapping for its fur 

 keeps its numbers small, so that there is little possibility of 

 an increase in population. There is even reason to believe 

 that the destruction of rats by mink in the area might possi- 

 bly assist in the protection of mallards, even though the 

 mink is known to take them. 



This then is an example of the complexities of conserva- 

 tion. The position of the predator is seldom clear, but varies 

 with location and conditions. The question of who killed 

 Cock Robin is not easily solved, and the remedy for such 

 situations must be applied with care. There are always prob- 

 lems in the background which can be resolved, if at all, 

 only by long and careful study. Snap judgments arrived at 

 by the superficial are often more damaging than leaving the 

 problem in its status quo. Samuel F. Rathbun, one-time 

 director of the Washington State Game Department, told me 

 of a situation, similar to that in our marsh, which occurred 

 in the eastern part of the state. A good breeding place for 

 ducks was being constantly raided by what were thought to 

 be mink, weasels, or other native predators, and a request 

 was made for a trapper to eliminate the culprits. When the 

 situation was examined it was found that the losses were 



