MAMMALIA — FERRET. ..WEASEL. 123 



in winter, to attack the hives, and drive away the bees. Rab jits, however, 

 seem to be their favorite prey, and a single polecat is often sufficient to 

 destroy a whole warren. They will also catch and eat fish, though, proba- 

 bly, this is done by them only when other food is not attainable. This 

 animal is not a native of America. 



THE FERRET. i 



This animal is by nature a mortal enemy to the rabbit. If even a dead 

 one is presented to a young ferret, which had never seen one before, it 

 springs at it, and tears it with fury ; if it be a living one, it seizes it by the 

 neck and nose, and instantly begins to suck its blood. When the ferret is 

 let loose into the burrows of the rabbits, it is necessary to muzzle him, that 

 he may not kill them at the bottom, but only oblige them to run out, and 

 thereby fall into the net laid for them at the entry. If he is allowed to go 

 unmuzzled, there is a risk of losing him, because, after having sucked the 

 blood of the rabit, he will fall asleep ; and the smoke which is raised at the 

 mouth of the burrow does not always prove a sufficient expedient for bring- 

 ing him back, as there are often more issues than one, and as one burrow 

 generally communicates with others, in which the ferret is apt to be the 

 more bewildered, the more he is surrounded with the smoke. 



The ferret has a yellowish fur, and red eyes. It is nearly fourteen inches 

 long, and is thought by Cuvier to be only a variety of the polecat. 



THE WEASEL. 2 



The common weasel is as frequent in temperate and in hot countries, as 

 it is scarce in cold ones. 



The weasel is the smallest of the class to which it belongs, and is an active 

 and handsome little animal. Exclusive of the tail, it is not seven inches in 

 length ; and its height is not more than two and a half. The tail, which is 

 bushy, measures about two inches and a half. The color of the weasel is a 

 pale reddish brown on the back and sides, but white under the throat and 



1 Mustela furo, Lin. 2 Mustela vulgaris, Lin. 



