Margaret Barnes, age 10, of Huntsville, Ala., for her question:
WHAT SORT OF ANIMAL IS THE MINK?
Mink, as we know, is much admired in the fur trade. But the neighbors of the wild mink do not admire the handsome little animal at all. In fact, he is downright unpopular. What's more, farmers regard him as a pest because sometimes he raids their chicken runs and kills more than he can eat at a single sitting.
Minks for the fur trade are bred and fed in captivity; and though some strains have unusual colors, they are just like their wild cousins. They have long supple bodies and short legs, perky little faces and bushy tails. All of them, of course, are famous for their thick, glossy fur, which is soft and durable.
The adult female is only about half as big as the male. His body is from 17 to 26 inches long, plus a fluffy tail of five to nine inches. His paws are webbed, for the mighty little hunter pursues his prey both on land and in the water.
His basic color is one shade of light or dark brown, usually accented with a white dab on his lower lip and a small white bib under his chin. His perky round ears are set far apart, and so are his round bright eyes. He has a small pink nose and a fine set of stiff white whiskers. His pretty little furry face has an innocent expression. But don't let this fool you for if he gets a chance he is very quick to grab a bite from your finger.
For their size, small animals tend to need more food than larger ones, and busy animals need more food than the lazier ones. The mink is a rather smallish meat eating mammal, very active and very quick. He moves like a graceful acrobat, hunting rodents and ground nesting birds, swimming for fishes, frogs and crustaceans.
The male's hunting ground covers many miles, though the female stays closer to home. Through most of the year they live apart, spending their days in separate burrows. The noisy courting season comes in early spring, when the lovers purr like happy kittens. The playful kits are born in a nest lined with fur and feathers and spend their first couple of months in the female's burrow.
The family stays together until fall, then each member goes off to live the life of a solitary hunter. Though a mink enjoys freshly killed meat, he also keeps a well stocked pantry in his burrow. When he raids the chicken run, he may kill a dozen and carry off only one. No doubt he plans to return for the rest, but usually the farmer wakes up and the mink changes his mind.