New York Weasel 



would prove conspicuous on the white surface of the snow and in 

 contrast with the intense white of the remaining fur. But if you 

 place a weasel in its winter white on new-fallen snow in such a 

 position that it casts no shadow, you will find that the black 

 tip of the tail catches your eye and holds it in spite of your- 

 self, so that at a little distance it is very difficult to follow the 

 outline of the rest of the animal. Cover the tip of the tail with 

 snow and you can see the rest of the weasel itself much more 

 clearly; but as long as the black point is in sight, you see that, 

 and that only. 



If a hawk or owl, or any other of the larger hunters of the 

 woodland, were to give chase to a weasel and endeavour to 

 pounce upon it, it would in all probability be the black tip of 

 the tail it would see and strike at, while the weasel, darting 

 ahead, would escape. It may, moreover, serve as a guide, enabling 

 the young weasels to follow their parents more readily through 

 grass and brambles. 



One would suppose that this beautiful white fur of winter, 

 literally as white as the snow, might prove a disadvantage at 

 times by making its owner conspicuous when the ground is bare 

 in winter, as it frequently is even in the North; yet though 

 weasels are about more or less by day, you will seldom catch 

 so much as a glimpse of one at such times, though you may 

 hear their sharp chirrup close at hand. Though bold and fear- 

 less, they have the power of vanishing instantly, and the slightest 

 alarm sends them to cover. I have seen one standing within 

 reach of my hand in the sunshine on the exposed root of 

 a tree, and while I was staring at it, it vanished like the flame 

 of a candle blown out, without leaving me the slightest clue as 

 to the direction it had taken. All the weasels I have ever seen, 

 either in the woods or open meadows, disappeared in a similar 

 manner. 



How hawks, owls or foxes ever succeed in catching them is 

 a mystery, yet they do from time to time, though certainly not 

 often enough to reduce the number of weasels at any season. 

 Still, though weasels breed rapidly, they never become very numer- 

 ous, for which there is reason to be thankful. 



In summer the weasel's fur is a peculiar shade of soft red- 

 dish-brown, and in spring and fall the blending of white with 

 brown gives a curiously pied and mottled appearance; the tail at 



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