114 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



many years ago, by the French-speaking population of that 

 section of the state where it appears to be most numerous — 

 St. James parish and those lands adjacent to it east of the 

 Mississippi river. 



Here the weasel is a fouine (pronounced foo'in) mean- 

 ing "sneak," a name applied to this animal by the early 

 settlers in recognition of its skulking, stealthy habits, as 

 fouiner means "to sneak away," steal or slink off. Such 

 Old World mammals as the true pole-cat, fitchet and beech- 

 marten have also been given this name, and, in some parts 

 of France, fouine means a pitchfork. 



The usual Old World French translation of the word 

 weasel is belette, but our early French-speaking Louisiani- 

 ans gave the name belette to the mink, and the mink, in 

 Louisiana, is so known to many of our lowland trappers 

 who still speak the tongue of their ancestors. 



Skull drawing of a weasel showing the canine, or flesh-tearing 

 front teeth characteristic of all meat-eating mammals. 



The signification of the word weasel is obscure. Some 

 believe it was derived from the German wiese, meaning a 

 meadow. The early English name was weesel; the Swedes 

 calling it iversla and the Dutch ivezel The Biloxi seem to 

 be the only Gulf Indians to have given this animal a name, 

 calling it iskixpa, a diminutive form of the name given the 

 mink. 



