Re: Joy of this, Joy of that

On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 21:40:48 +0100, D wrote:

A mink? But they are tiny! Was there anything left after you removed the
skin? I saw a mink once in the country side in sweden. He had a death
wish and tried to run out in front of my car, but I think he survived.

I had no intention of eating it but after I realized what I had hit I
wanted to tan the hide and give my girlfriend a mink. This was in the '60s
before fur became anathema. Mink are in the Mustelidae family which have a
common characteristic of anal scent glands. I never skinned a skunk but I
assume it would be a similar experience. Before DNA analysis, skunks were
included in the family ultil they were moved to their own.

afaik, there are no skunks in Europe but you're not missing anything.
There are a pair of skunks that show up here sometimes looking for cat
food. Cats are smarter than dogs and ignore them and if I go out on the
deck the skunks politely waddle off.

I also saw a weasel in a huge park close to where I live. He was
confused,
because he had his winter clothing on, and it happened to be a day in
the winter without snow, so easy to spot him.

We have varying hares (snowshoe rabbits) that do the same.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe_hare

One fall I was coming out of the woods on a full moon night when I saw one
in its white phase sitting on a black rock outcropping. He might as well
have had a flashing neon sign. I'd seen some cruising owls so I wished him
the best of luck.

I don't know what triggers the change. I was coming down from a 10,000'
peak and there wasn't even any snow there yet.