254 . ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
Weasels are extraordinarily fearless of man- 
kind, and will soon become so regardless of him 
as to be positively tame. In the West miners 
and hunters often welcome them to, their cabins 
and establish very friendly relations with them, 
recognizing that they. keep the premises free 
from the wild mice, which otherwise would in- 
fest the houses and play havoc with supplies 
-brought in at great expense and labor. This is 
only a return to a very ancient practice, for, 
as I have shown in my Life of Mammals, the 
household mouser of the Greeks was not a. cat, 
but a weasel—the European stone-marten. 
Life of the mink. The mink is a semi- 
aquatic weasel. It inhabits the whole of the 
United States, excepting ‘the arid regions, 
which are unfitted for its habits of life. It is 
a species of great economic importance, both 
on account of the value of its fur and on ac- 
count of its injurious habits. As an enemy to 
the poultry yard it ranks ahead of all: other 
North-American mammals. Furthermore, it 
kills large numbers of fish, as it not only swims 
and dives with facility, but can remain long 
under water, pursuing and capturing its prey 
