MARTEN OR AMERICAN SABLE 97 



their being opened and examined. Fine straw or hay should be pro- 

 vided. The boxes may be outside the pens, bolted to the fence; a 

 hole in the fence and box admits the animals, the box to be 3 or 4 inches 

 above the ground. The boxes should be as dark as possible, with a hole 

 4 inches in diameter for the entrance of the minks. 



In 1913, continued reports of success in breeding minks, were 

 circulated and prices rose until they ruled at from $80.00 to $200.00 a 

 pair accordiug to quality and disposition. Ranch-bred minks are re- 

 puted to be more tractable than old wild ones and bring double prices. 

 The rapidly growing interest in miak-ranching might, at first blush, be 

 described to the enthusiasm in Eastern Canada for fox-farming and to 

 the successes achieved in that industry. A visit to one or two ranches 

 however, furnished conclusive evidence that, when the initial difficulties 

 have been overcome, mink-ranching will become an important industry. 



MARTEN OR AMERICAN SABLE 

 (Mustela Americana) 



No marten farms were found in operation in 1912 although ranch- 

 men were attempting to secure specimens, but, in 1913, a number of 

 farms were stocked. 



The experience of only one person in breeding marten was obtain- 

 able, that of A. H. Cocks, of Henley-on-Thames, England.* Mr. Cocks, 

 who has raised five litters of marten in captivity, states that the prin- 

 cipal difficulty is to ascertain when the female is in season. If a pair 

 are put together when the female is not in season, it is very apt to end 

 in the death of the female from a sudden snap through her brain by 

 the male. 



The wild marten is one of the most blood-thirsty of animals, 

 the Marten being inferior only to the weasel and possibly the fisher, 

 in this respect. In captivity, however, it becomes quite 

 docile and may even become a pet. It mates promiscuously like the 

 rest of the weasel family and, because of its savage nature, two wild 

 marten can not safely be placed ia one pen. The pens should be similar 

 to the miak pens, but constructed of No. 14 or not lighter than No. 16, 

 one-inch mesh wire, but higher and wired all over. The ground may 

 be covered with wire to prevent burrowing or the fence may be sunk 

 into the ground at least three feet and should have an inhang of one 

 foot. Mr. E. T. Seton says: "I prefer a carpet wire and have carpet 

 wire or concrete floor in all my marten pens." Trees and brush may 

 be placed in the pen, or the pen placed in the woods. They are ac- 

 *An account of his experiences has been published in The Zoologist for 1883, p. 

 203; and in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1900, p. 836. 

 Further notes on the young of the species are to be found in The Zoologist, 1881, 1897, 

 etc. 



