beneath a log or a
stump, or perhaps in a hollow tree; the nest is lined with moss,
feathers, or grass, and the young are born about forty days after the
mating season. The minks' food may be flesh, fish, or fowl and, if
overstocked, it is stored for future use.

On land, the mink is caught exactly as the fox, the fisher, or the
marten is caught, except, of course, that there is a difference in the
size of the traps. In water, the steel trap is set just below the
surface and rests on the muddy or sandy bottom, where it is half
covered with soil as it lies in readiness close to the bank where the
mink is in the habit of passing in and out of the stream. Mixed bait
is placed on the branches of the near-by bushes. In order, however, to
better his chances of catching the mink, the hunter may build a
deadfall near the trap, where the animal is in the habit of entering
the bush. Then extra bait of rancid fish or duck is used. This mode
of water-trapping applies, also, to muskrat, otter, and beaver. The
mink, however, is a stupid creature, and it does not require great
skill to trap him; but the hunter, nevertheless, must take care when
removing him from the trap, for the little brute has the heart of a
lion and will tackle anything, regardless of size.

We camped that night on the hillside overlooking "Mink Creek" as
Oo-koo-hoo called it, and next morning we again set out on our circular
way, for on leaving our lodges, we first headed almost due west for
about three miles, then we turned south for two more, and gradually
working round, we were soon facing east; that course we followed for a
day, then on the morrow we worked round toward the north, and finally
to the west again, as we neared home. Thus the trapping path was laid
in an elliptic form, somewhat suggesting the letter C, with the home
camp between the two ends of the letter. Many times during the winter
circumstances proved the wisdom of Oo-koo-hoo's plan, especially when
the sled became over-loaded with game, and a short cut to camp became
desirable. Though no part of his fur path lay more than five miles
from the lodges, yet to make the full circuit on showshoes, to examine
the traps, and to set some of them, it required a long day, as the path
must have covered in a zig-zagging way more than twenty miles. Later
on he and Amik laid out two more such trapping paths: one to the north
and the other to the east of Bear Lake. The one to the northward was