OUTWITTING A MINK. 



FRANK FARNER. 



I saw his tracks, some feathers and other 

 indications of his having his home beneath 

 a log drift in the bed of a small creek. I 

 could see that he was an old timer for his 

 tracks were extremely large, and that he 

 had lost some toes off one front foot, so I 

 knew he would be wary, hard to catch and 

 well worthy of my steel. I placed a care- 

 fully concealed trap some distance from his 

 habitat and baited with the leg of a musk- 

 rat, which is a favorite food of the mink's. 

 The next morning the bait was gone and 

 the trap undisturbed.. This occurred night- 

 ly for 4 consecutive nights and change as 

 I might, he was too cunning. Next I 

 buried the trap in the mud and under water 

 about an inch in depth, and placed the bait 

 so that to reach it from the bank, he would 

 be compelled to pass over the trap. I 

 figured this out with nicety, and felt satis- 

 fied I could bid him a cheery good morning 

 the following day. I was there bright and 

 early to do so; but the water had fallen in 

 the creek, the trap was uncovered and I 

 do not know but that mink was peeping at 

 me from under a log and enjoying my dis- 

 comfiture. At any rate, I felt cheap. 



The question of his capture became a 



serious problem with me. I felt chagrined 

 that a little mink with a head no bigger 

 than a piece of chalk could play me who 

 wear a J% hat, and have been told all my 

 life that I am smart. I sat down on the 

 bank and evolved the following plan. 



Choosing a spot where the water was 

 about a foot deep, some 6 or 7 feet from 

 the bank, I pushed a cordon of small sticks 

 down into the mud and below the surface 

 of the water in such form that they would 

 hold a chunk of wood, which I had pre- 

 viously selected. I placed the trap on this 

 wood and covered it carefully with mud,. 

 I thus had a little floating island with a 

 trap ready for business covering its surface. 

 I then floated a good sized pole and an- 

 chored it with stakes in such shape that one 

 end rested on the shore and the other 

 reached within 2 feet of the trap. When 

 the mink reached the end of the pole, the 

 alluring bait I had placed over the trap 

 could only be reached from the island, to 

 which he jumped. The next morning he 

 was in the trap, caught by both front feet 

 and drowned. I had to wear my hat on the 

 back of my head all that day, but the swell- 

 ing gradually went down. 



fti ^™BL s****^ •#&* 



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AMATEUR PHOTO BY W. STARK. 



MINK. MUSTELLA AMERICANA. 



Made with Collinear Lens 



105 



