212 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Feb. 



A RARE WEASEL AT OTTAWA. 



By W. E. Saunders, London, Ont. 



Exact knowledge regarding weasels is not a part of the 

 mental equipment of most nature lovers, and the capture of 

 what was to me a rare specimen, may afford an opportunity for 

 hanging thereon a few remarks. 



It is, of course, well known that the weasel, which in summer 

 is brown above and yellowish white below, turns pure white in 

 winter, with the exception of the tip of the tail, which is black at 

 all seasons. I had long realized that there were two sizes of 

 weasels which (naturally!) were of two species, but some years 

 ago when I happened to study them a little I found that all the 

 large ones were males, and all the small ones were females, and 

 the authorities state this is the normal condition of affairs in 

 the common Putorius novehoracensis. There is, however, a small 

 weasel in old Ontario, and I have been on the lookout to find it 

 for a long time, but vainly, until November 11th. at Ottawa, 

 when I shot one on the stone ridge thrown out of the pipe ex- 

 cavation leading to the Tuberculosis Hospital. I saw before 

 shooting that this specimen was a small one, and when I found 

 I had a male, I was delighted, as it could be nothing else than 

 the long sought Bonaparte's Weasel, Putorius cigonani. When 

 I fired I was delighted to see him fall right over, apparently dead, 

 but to make sure I ran the intervening distance and was disgusted 

 to see a flicker of white disappearing down through the stone pile, 

 just as I reached him. That, of course, made it necessary that 

 the stone pile should be removed, which was promptly done, and, 

 encouraged by an occasional drop of blood, operations proceeded 

 as far as the ground and then along the T,ile in the direction 

 indicated, when he was soon found stone iuad. 



Doubtless this animal covers the ( niferous parts of Ontario 

 fairly well, but in my district around London, where the vegeta- 

 tion is largely deciduous and where balsams are entirely absent, 

 it is doubtful if there are any of these remaining; certainly I 

 have never been able to learn of the capture of one of them. 



The normal measurement in millimeters of male and female 

 novehoracensis and the measurement of this specimen of cicognani, 

 which seems to be normal, are given below: 



Length Tail Hind foot 



Noveboracensis Male 418 150 50 



Female 298 92 26 



Cicognani. . . . ..^v^^lj^y .-^ . . . . 290 80 35 



