A Tale of Sacrifice:Hey Nutria!! Bet You Can’t Catch ME!

A mink and nutria, usually natural enemies, were walking by the edge of a wide stream. Their unlikely friendship had formed some time ago when the mink and his friends saved the nutria from a feral dog. They grew up playing and planning their futures together and as adults were good friends. “Mink” said the nutria, “On a find day such as this we should find a warm spot in the sun and have an afternoon nap. I am tired from enlarging my burrow for the next litter.” “I don’t know Nutria. I have a lot to do to get ready for the “blessed event” in my den. New grass and feathers to collect and maybe dig another entrance for safety.”

Suddenly, Nutria jumped back and yelled “GATOR!!” as a 5 foot alligator lunged for him. Mink, being the more aggressive of the two, jumped in front of Nutria and said “Run Nutria, I will deal with this coldblooded mindless reptile” and bit the gator on the end of its nose. The gator lunged at the mink several times, and each time the mink led the gator further from his cowering friend. Finally, when the gator was totally distracted, Mink ran away and left the gator wondering where his lunch had gone.

“My goodness Mink, that was really brave of you. I think he would have had me if you hadn’t taken him on. I can be really slow to react at times, especially when I need a nap.” The mink just laughed and said “I tease gators all the time. They think they can catch any animal they want, but we minks are way too fast for them. Why, I remember a time “ and at that point Nutria screamed ‘GATOR” again and before he could react, Mink was snapped into the jaws of a second gator he had not seen. One bite and one swallow and Mink was gone. Nutria ran and ran, sobbing “It was all my fault. All my fault. How will I tell Mink’s wife?”

But somehow he found the courage to go to Mink’s den and tell his wife of the tragic end of her husband. She cried and her kits huddled around her. Finally, Nutria said “Mrs. Mink? Don’t worry about your den. I know what Mink needed to do, and I will do it for you. You just get ready for the new arrivals.” And so Nutria began collecting dry grass and feathers and bringing them to the den, and when Mrs. Mink told him she had enough, he dug another entrance into the den. After a few days of this work, Mrs. Mink said “Nutria, why are you helping us? I know you have work to do on your den.” “Mink was my old friend, and without him you would be in danger collecting nesting grass and digging a new entrance. He was my friend, and friends help friends when they can. I will never forget what I owe to Mink, and I will always look out for you.”

And so a new relationship was born, and eventually Nutria became an uncle to many young minks. But sometimes when he was getting ready for an afternoon nap, he would think back to that fateful day on the stream bank and silently cry for his lost friend. He had found out that new friends may be found, but old friends are never forgotten. As he dozed, he thought he heard someone say “Hey Nutria! Bet you can’t catch me!”

Image: http://www.rickubis.com/rick/gatorbuck025.jpg