THE MARTEN FAMILY— WEASEL GROUP. 



16a 



and Rats. Besides this sport, which is of some bene- 

 fit to Man, it is unfortunately addicted to poaching 

 and fishing. Audubon observed it to swim and dive 

 with the greatest agility and pursue and attack the 

 quickest of fishes, such as the Salmon and Trout, as 

 successfully as an Otter. When better provender is 

 not procurable it is content with a Frog or a Lizard, 

 but when food is plentiful, it is very fastidious. In 

 swampy regions it preys upon Water-rats, Finches 

 and Ducks ; on the shore it preys on Hares, in the 

 ocean it feeds on Oysters and from the bottom of 

 rivers it takes Mussels and other shell-fish ; in short, 

 it adapts itself to the locality and knows how to 

 profit by whatever food supplies it may be able to 

 find. When frightened, it gives forth a very fetid 

 odor, like the Polecat. 



The five or six young 

 to which the female gives 

 birth at the end of April, 

 may be found in holes un- 

 der projecting banks of 

 rivers or on small islands, 

 in moors, or even in hol- 

 low trees. If taken young, 

 they get to be exceeding- 

 ly tame and become gen- 

 uine pets. Richardson 

 saw one in the possession 

 of a Canadian lady, who 

 used to carry it about with 

 her, in her pocket. 



The Mink is easily 

 caught in any kind of trap 

 and is as frequently shot 

 as it is caught; but its 

 tenacity of life renders a 

 good aim necessary. 

 The European The Europe- 



Minh now an Mink or 

 Rare. N e r z has 

 been described much less 

 than the American spe- 

 cies. Wildungen wrote in 

 1799 that the Mink was 

 then a rare animal, un- 

 known to most German 

 sportsmen ; he had long 

 wished to see it closely 

 and owed the realization 

 of this wish to the inde- 

 fatigable zeal of Count 

 Mellin. He proceeds to 

 give us a few details, ob- 

 served by the latter: 

 "The Mink resembles the 

 Marten in its manner of 

 walking, in its mode of arching its back, and in its 

 ability to insinuate itself into the smallest apertures. 

 Like the Ferret, it is incessantly in motion, search- 

 ing all nooks and holes. It runs badly and does 

 not climb on trees ; but it swims like an Otter and 

 can stay a long time under water. 



"The Mink likes quiet and solitude around its 

 abode. It shuns human beings and avoids traps very 

 intelligently, although it sometimes visits poultry- 

 yards and then proceeds, with a zeal equal to that of 

 the Marten or the Polecat, to slay as long as there are 

 any victims left or until it is disturbed. This, how- 

 ever, happens only in isolated dwellings, and I have 

 never heard that it visited villages. Its usual food 

 consists of fish, Frogs, Crabs and Snails ; and proba- 



THE EUROPEAN MINK. This animal, sometimes also called the 



Nerz, much resembles the American Mink, except that it is somewhat 

 smaller and its fur is coarser. The long, slender body, the webbed feet and 

 the keen, watchful mode of waiting for and attacking its prey, are well shown 

 here. It inhabits swampy regions and banks of streams, and is an expert at 

 fishing and catches small mammals, birds and Frogs. {Putorius luireola.) 



bly young Water-hens and Woodcocks also fall vic- 

 tims to it. The high price which its fur brings, even 

 in summer, increases the efforts made to capture this 

 rare animal, and it may soon be exterminated in 

 Pomerania, where Mellin observed it." 



This extract contains really all we have so far 

 known about the Mink. The fear that it has been 

 exterminated in Germany has become general, but 

 luckily it is groundless. The Mink occurs all over 

 northern Germany, though not plentifully. Its real 

 home is eastern Europe, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, 

 Russia. There it is found from the Baltic Sea to the 

 Ural, from the Dwina to the Black Sea, and not very 

 rarely. It also inhabits Bessarabia, Siebenbuergeri 

 and Gallicia. In Moravia, Silesia and Holstein it is^ 



very rare; yet I received 

 from Holstein the follow- 

 ing report from Mr. 

 Claudius, a forester well 

 versed in zoological mat- 

 ters : 

 Habits of the "The Mink 

 European likes the 

 Mink. broken and 

 reedy surroundings of 

 lakes and rivers, and takes 

 up its abode in dam-like 

 eminences in the roots of 

 alder trees, as near as pos- 

 sible to some body of 

 water, and it provides this 

 habitation with several 

 outlets in the direction 

 of the water. Burrows 

 leading away from water 

 are never found. When 

 a Polecat is compelled to 

 desert its hole, it cannot 

 be driven into the water, 

 but invariably looks for 

 safety on land, where it is 

 always able to find innu- 

 merable chances for es- 

 cape; but the Mink, under 

 like circumstances, drops 

 vertically into the water 

 and disappears from view. 

 It is extremely difficult 

 to shoot it in the water, 

 for it stays in a long time, 

 and emerges at a consid- 

 erable distance from the 

 place at which it dived 

 beneath the surface. 

 When under water, even 

 if the swimming space is 

 very limited, the Mink is perfectly secure from cap- 

 ture by a Dog." 

 The European For many years Claudius and I had 

 Minli in tried in vain to obtain a living Mink. 

 Captivity. At last, in 1 868, he wrote me that a 

 female Mink had been caught and brought to him. 

 It appeared to thrive on a diet of milk and meat, 

 and, as its temper seemed quiet, he hoped the wound 

 caused by the trap would soon heal. " It is a great 

 deal better-natured than the other Weasels," Clau- 

 dius writes, " it is only angry when irritated. It pre- 

 fers to pay no attention to me, but allows me to 

 stroke its fur with a little stick without taking it 

 amiss. All day long it lies curled up on a bundle of 

 hay in the cage. At night it prowls around in its 



