That's why the foxes and the weasels and the minks never came around.
"When the Little Furry Ones were about the size of five months' kittens they were as handsome a pair of youngsters as you are ever likely to set eyes upon.

Their fur, rich and soft and dark, was the finest ever seen.

Like their parents, they had bodies shaped for going through the water at a tremendous speed--built like a bulldog's for strength, and like an eel's for suppleness." "Not _slimy_!" protested the Babe, who had hated eels whole-heartedly ever since the day when he had tried to take one off the hook.
"Of course not!" answered Uncle Andy impatiently.

"As I was going to say, they were shaped a good deal like those seals you've seen in the Zoo, only that instead of flippers they had regulation legs and feet, and also a tail.

It was a tail worth having, too, and not merely intended for ornament.