Contest between a Stoat and a Water-Rat. 609 



Art. V. Short Communications, 



Mammiferous Animals. — A Contest between a Stoat (Mus- 

 tela erminea) and a Water- Rat {Arvicola amphibia Flem.). — 

 I was passing along the banks of a small rivulet, in search of 

 insects, in September, 1834, when I was greatly amused by 

 the feats of a water-rat. He darted into the water, which was 

 very clear, and about 2 ft. deep, and ran to and fro along the 

 bottom, as if in chase of prey. He then took his station 

 again, and looked intently into the water, and again plunged 

 in as before ; and this he repeated five or six times. The 

 only living objects I could perceive in the water were a few 

 sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) darting backwards and 

 forwards : but whether he seized any of them, I could not 

 ascertain. As I felt desirous of satisfying my curiosity as to 

 the cause of his diving in the stream, I kept my eye intently 

 fixed upon him and the water alternately ; when he suddenly 

 gave a loud scream, which certainly startled me for a moment. 

 It was a shriek of fear, for he was in great trepidation, and 

 moved his fore feet with great rapidity, as if to run away ; 

 still he kept his eyes intently fixed upon one place. His tre- 

 pidation increased ; my anxiety increased too, as I was igno- 

 rant of the cause of so much trepidation, and rapid action ; 

 but my mind was soon relieved, for he uttered another shriek 

 of horror, and at that instant a large stoat sprang from the 

 opposite bank (by which it had been concealed from my 

 view). A furious contest took place, which lasted four or five 

 minutes. The rat defended himself with great courage and 

 ferocity, but was at length overpowered by his antagonist, 

 which then seized him just under the ear, and bore him off 

 in triumph to his retreat. This was the first rat I had ever 

 seen killed by a stoat. — W. H. White. Old Kent Road, Jan. 

 10. 1835. 



[ The Weasel's Agency in Destroying Mice in Stacks of Corn. 

 (V. 296, 297.)] — This little animal often makes the farmer its 

 enemy, by its frequent depredations in the poultry-yard among 

 the eggs, chickens, ducklings, &c. It is not so great an 

 enemy, in all instances, as it is generally supposed to be. My 

 venerable father, who was a considerable farmer in Derby- 

 shire, left the following account of the weasel among his 

 papers, which was found after his decease. He was a man 

 who encouraged almost all living creatures on his farms ; 

 upon this principle, in his own words, — " As every cause has 

 its effect, so has every evil its corresponding good." 



" The weasel," he writes, " has been of great value to me 

 during the last three years (1802, 1803, and 1804). I was 



