852 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



however, an Ermine find its way into these barns and granaries 

 and there take up its winter residence, and the havoc which is 

 made among the Rats and Mice will soon be observable. The 

 Ermine pursues them to their farthest retreats, and in a few 

 weeks the premises are entirely free from their depredations. 

 We once placed a half domesticated Ermine in an out-house in- 

 fested with Rats, shutting up the holes to prevent their escape. 

 The little animal soon commenced his work of destruction. 

 The squeaking of the Rats was heard throughout the day. 

 In the evening it came out licking its mouth, and seemed like 

 a hound after a long chase, much fatigued." 



At Ingolf, Ont., September i6, 1904, I saw a specimen of 

 this Weasel that had been shot by the station agent. He told 

 me that there were five or six Rabbits each night about the 

 station. But one day the Weasel took up its abode near by and 

 the Rabbits disappeared. The Weasel came into the station 

 one night and, by help of the dog and a stick, the man injured 

 it, but it escaped through a hole in the mosquito bar. Next 

 day it was back and he killed it with a shot-gun. The pertinac- 

 ity of the animal in returning was very characteristic. 



STORAGE The storage habit is not what we look for in a creature 



so reckless and wasteful as a Weasel, and yet it seems fairly 

 well-developed in this species. Bachman, after the above 

 experiment with the Ermine as a ratter, says:" "A board of 

 the floor was raised to enable us to ascertain the result of our 

 experiment, and an immense number of Rats were observed, 

 which, although they had been killed in different parts of the 

 building, had been dragged together, forming a compact 

 heap." And again he says'- that he has known the Ermine 

 to kill and cache in the snow a Cottontail Rabbit, pressing the 

 snow tightly down over it. 



John Burroughs gives" another curious case of Weasel 

 storage, in connection with the den already described. He 

 saw the creature {cicognanii?) carrying a Mouse into a hole 



" Ibid., p. 60. " Ibid., p. 58. 



"Squirrels and Other Furhcarers, 1900, pp. 72-5. 



HABITS 



