THE STORY OF THE MINK. 
485 
Generally, the food of the mink consists of various aquatic creatures, such 
as frogs, crayfish and molluscs, but it will also eat various small aquatic 
animals, such as voles, as well as mice and rats, while in America it is 
reported to prey at times upon the comparatively large musquash. Marsh- 
frequenting birds also fall victims to the mink, and their eggs are also 
consumed. Other wild birds are, however, comparatively safe from the 
attacks of this animal, as its climbing powers are of the feeblest. Poultry 
are not unfrequently attacked; but in these and other attacks the mink does 
not exhibit that wholesale destructiveness characteristic of the stoat. In 
hunting, the mink has .been often observed to pursue its prey entirely by 
THE EUROPEAN MINK, 
scent, and it may be observed on its hunting expeditions both by night and 
by day. 
x 411 who have hunted the mink bear witness to its extraordinary tenacity 
of life, the writer last quoted stating that he has known several instances of 
these animals being found alive after having lain for fully four-and-twenty 
hours with their bodies crushed flat beneath a heavy log. The countenance 
of the mink is described as at all times far from prepossessing, but when 
caught alive in a steel trap these animals have an expression almost dia¬ 
bolical. 
