Even if every pair of rails has 4 chicks, it isn't too likely that the population will increase by much, if any. A few years ago, we were birding Force Rd before the road had a gate across it. If you had a vehicle with high clearance, you could usually drive all the way to the creek. It was a lot easier to see a variety of wildlife, as the vehicle makes a terrific blind. We even have a sun roof that 1 of us can stand in for a 360 degree field of view. Anyway, when we were about 1/2 way to the creek, we were lucky enough to see an adult rail (maybe 2, I can't remember) coming towards us, right down the road, with 4 chicks in tow. They would move in & out of the vegetation as they came but we were able to watch them for about 5-10 minutes as they approached. When they got to within 10 feet of us, they moved further into the vegetation to a slightly denser area. Every once in a while we could still see them moving about in there. We still hadn't moved forward any when we saw a mink coming down the same path as the rails had come. He would even move into the vegetation at every place the rails had. So sure enough, when he arrived at the spot where the rails moved in deep, he went in right after them. Suddenly the marsh exploded with such awful squawks & screams, you can barely imagine. This went on for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only 2 or 3 minutes. We could see nothing, only hear & imagine what must be happening. Finally, all was silent. We waited. And searched for signs of any life. We saw leaves moving. Was it the mink or did some of the rails survive? Then we saw 1 adult at the very edge of the vegetation, & then a glimpse of 1 black fuzz ball. That is all we saw. Never saw the mink again, nor could we tell if more than 1 chick survived the attack but we were thankful that at least 1 did. But we were also grateful that we were given the opportunity to witness this event. I love seeing rails but I also get pretty excited on the even rarer occasions that I see a mink. Really understanding the web of life is an important part of this "hobby" of ours. Though I think I am also grateful that I didn't actually see it happening. Laura Dornan Stark County **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 ) ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]