Several minutes later the blue-wing landed in front of me and I turned and saw 
     
     close-by what I first mistook for a muskrat. Three male red-winged blackbirds were 
     
     dive-bombing it though, so I took a closer look with a telescope. It was a mink 
     
     and it was dragging a female blue-winged teal through the water! Her neck was 
     
     underwater and the right wing was flapped up partially covering the mink's back. 
     
    

    
     I kept on watching them. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The male blue-winged teal skittered along in front of the mink, making no noise and 
     
     soon disappeared. The red-winged blackbirds gave up the chase too. Old mink just 
     
     kept on swimming, making a bee-line for the opposite shore and shifted its load 
     
     once or twice. A curious male ring-necked duck followed the mink at a discrete 
     
     distance until the mink gained shore and was lost to view. The I'ringneck“ swam for 
     
     50 yards or so along the shore then, which may indicate that the mink carried the 
     
     duck along the shore for a good distance. 
     
    
   
   
    
     So ends the saga of the mink and the duck. Conservation officers were unable to 
     
     apprehend the illegal hunter. However, the chances of proving the hunter's identity 
     
     in court were considered to be very low. 
     
    
   
   
    
     To conclude in a serious vein, mink have been observed taking ducks before, but it 
     
     i§_unusual. A mink's diet usually consists of small mammals such as mice and young 
     
     muskrats; fish and frogs. 
     
    
   
   
    
     — Rosemary Curley 
     
     Fish 8 Wildlife Division 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Goshawk Thwarted in Attempt to Secure Blue-winged Teal for Lunch 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     I have a special location where I can retreat to catch a trout, shoot a duck or trap 
     
     a muskrat, but, more importantly, an area where I can sit and observe the functioning 
     
     of a fresh-water marsh. A couple of days after hunting season had opened a friend 
     
     and I arrived early and set up our decoys. About an hour after sunrise the monotony 
     
     of the wait was shattered by two blue-winged teal calling loudly and approaching 
     
    

    
     the blind. The teal were flying low over the water with a goshawk in hot pursuit. 
     
     When the teal were about 30 yards from us they frantically dove into the water and 
     
     remained completely submerged for several seconds. The goshawk circled and when 
     
    

    
     the teal emerged he made another pass over them causing them to dive again. The 
     
    

    
     hawk then perched on a dead tree and after examining our blind for a short time 
     
    

    
     flew silently about five feet over our heads. He again returned to the tree but made 
     
     no further attempts to molest the ducks which disappeared into the cattails calling 
     
     vigorously. The goshawk remained perched for a couple of minutes and then quietly 
     
     disappeared across the pond. 
     
    
   
   
    
     - Daryl Guignion 
     
     Biology Department 
     
     Univ. of P.E.I. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The Fox in Autumn 
     
    
   
   
    
     At this time of year, the red fox family is beginning to break up as the young are 
     
     mature enough to fend for themselves. Young foxes move from their denning areas to 
     
     set up their own winter territories (hunting areas). Generally young males will 
     
    

    
     move further from the rearing area than females. The average distance that young 
     
    

    
     move is thought to be about #3 miles but in agricultural areas such as Prince Edward 
     
     Island which provide more food and other necessities of life, the distance is probably 
     
     less than half the usual. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Autumn, the season of change, brings a change too in the diet of a fox. The summer 
     
     diet of insects, berries and other vegetable matter is being replaced by a meat diet. 
     
     Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island have shown that foxes here exist 
     
     largely on mice and domestic animal remains during winter. Contrary to popular 
     
    
   
   
    
     belief, foxes do not rely on snowshoe hare (rabbits) for their main food source. They 
     
     do eat a few, however. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In autumn, foxes take on a heavier coat in preparation for winter. They make little 
     
     use of dens until the breeding season in January and February. 
     
    
   
   
    
     - Rosemary Curley 
     
     Fish 5 Wildlife Division