864 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



an animal to be encouraged about barns; but it also devours 

 insects, small birds, and, on rare occasions, chickens. It hunts 

 by scent, climbs, and swims with ease. 



Gestation in the Weasels is about 42 days. The young 

 are usually 5 in a litter, but vary from 4 to 6. The nest 

 is in a hole in a bank. It is lined with grass and herbage. 

 The mother will defend them fearlessly and desperately against 

 all assailants. 



Most Weasels are solitary hunters, but the mother will go 

 hunting with her whole brood in late summer and early autumn. 

 These family gatherings are doubtless the 'weasel packs' one 

 occasionally hears of. 



HUNTING J. G. Millais points out'" that in parts of England the 

 PACKS Common Weasel (P. nivalis Linn.) is called 'fairy,' and 

 states that: "The habit of Weasels to travel and hunt in 

 company at night, most likely explains a superstition which 

 still lingers in the West of England, to the effect that Hares are 

 hunted at night by packs of little fairy hounds, locally called 

 'Dandy Dogs,' and these some of the country people will 

 assure you they have seen and watched with awe." 

 VALUE This Weasel is never known to attack well-grown poultry, 



or mammals larger than a rat, so that it must be considered a 

 friend of the farmer, an animal, therefore, that is worthy of full 

 protection. 



These observations will help us to an understanding of our 

 own still more diminutive species, and any reader who happens 

 to have first-hand facts about this animal or its habits, can 

 render good service to the cause of Natural History by putting 

 his knowledge on record. 



'" Mam. G. B. & I., 1905, Vol. II, p. 135. 



