THIS soft fur bearing animal has been described by Audubon and Prince De Wied. Its nearest relatives are very closely allied to the polecat and differ from it only by a flatter head, larger canine teeth, shorter legs, the presence of webs between the toes, a longer tail, and a lustrous fur, consisting of a close, smooth, short hair, resembling otter fur. Its color is a uniform brown. The fur of the American mink is much more esteemed than that of the European, as it is softer and of a more woolly character.

According to Audubon the mink ranks next to the ermine in destructive capacity, prowling around the farmyard or duck-pond, and its presence is soon detected by the sudden disappearance of young chickens and ducklings. Audubon had a personal experience with a mink which made its home in the stone dam of a small pond near the home of the naturalist. The pond had been dammed for the benefit of the ducks in the yard, and in this way afforded the mink hunting-grounds of ample promise. Its hiding-place had been selected with cunning, very near the house and still nearer the place where the chickens had to pass on their way to drink. In front of its hole were two large stones, which served the mink as a watch tower, from which it could overlook the yard as well as the pond. It would lie in wait for hours every day and would carry away chickens and ducks in broad daylight. Audubon found the mink to be especially plentiful on the banks of the Ohio river, and there observed it to be of some use in catching mice and rats. But it was also addicted to poaching and fishing. The naturalist observed it to swim and dive with the greatest agility and pursue and attack the quickest of fishes, such as the salmon and trout. It will eat frogs or lizards, but when food is plentiful it is very fastidious, preying upon rats, finches and ducks, hares, oysters and other shell fish; in short, Brehm says 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 female gives birth to five or six young at about the end of April. If taken young they get to be very tame and become real pets. Richardson saw one in the possession of a Canadian lady who used to carry it about with her in her pocket. It is easily caught in a trap of any kind, but its tenacity of life renders it difficult to shoot. The European mink much resembles the American, except that it is somewhat smaller and its fur is coarser.

Upon a large farm in Michigan visited by the writer this summer ran a creek where the chickens, when the trough was dry—and dry it usually was—traveled to get a drink. In the bank of the creek a mink made his home, and not a week passed that one or more hens did not appear in the barnyard crippled or mangled in a manner painful to behold—painful, that is, to the visitor, but not apparently to the farmer, who only said: "It's that darned mink; some day, when I have time, I'll set a trap and catch him," and so went coolly on his way, leaving the poor maimed creatures to drag out a painful existence for days or weeks, hoping that nature would heal the wounds made by the mink.

Aside from the lack of thrift thus shown by the farmer—for the hens, when badly mangled, in time succumbed—the inhumane aspect of the case never seemed to strike him. The cultivation of his fields left no time for cultivating the finer feelings of the heart.