HABITS OF THE WEASEL. 107 



all appreciate the amount of tbeir depredations; and surely 

 the occasional abduction of a chicken or duckling, supposing 

 it to be even much more frequently chargeable against the 

 Weasel than it really is, would be but a trifling set oft' against 

 the benefit produced by the destruction of those swarms of 

 little thieves. 



'^ The Weasel climbs trees with great facility, and surprises 

 birds on the nest, sucks the eggs, or carries off the young. It 

 has been asserted that it attacks and destroys snakes; this, 

 however, I believe to be entirely erroneous. I have tried the 

 experiment by placing a Weasel and a common snake together 

 in a large cage, in which the former had the opportunity of 

 retiring into a small box in which it was accustomed to sleep. 

 The mutual fear of the two animals kept them at a respectful 

 distance from each other; the snake, however, exhibiting quite 

 as much disposition to be the assailant, as its more formidable 

 companion. At length the Weasel gave the snake an occa- 

 sional slight bite on the side or on the nose, without materially 

 injuring it, and evidently without any instinctive desire to feed 

 upon it; and at length, after they had remained two or three 

 hours together, in the latter part of which they appeared 

 almost indifferent to each other's presence, I took the poor 

 snake away and killed it. 



*' Far different was this Weasel's conduct when a Mouse was 

 introduced into the cage; it instantly issued from its little box, 

 and, in a moment, one single bite on the head pierced the 

 brain and laid the Mouse dead without a struggle or a cry. I 

 have observed that when the Weasel seizes a small animal, at 

 the instant that the fatal bite is inflicted, it throws its long 

 lithe body over its prey, so as to secure it should the first bite 

 fail ; an accident, however, which I have never observed when 

 a Mouse has been the victim. The power which the Weasel 

 has of bending the head at right angles with the long and 

 flexible, though powerful neck, gives it great advantage in this 

 mode of seizing and killing its smaller prey. It also frequently 

 assumes this position when raising itself on its hinder legs to 

 look around. 



" The disposition which has been attributed to the Weasel 

 of sucking the blood of its prey, has, I believe' been generally 

 much exaggerated. Some persons have positively denied the 

 existence of such a propensity, and my own observation, as far 

 as it goes, would tend to confirm that refutation of the com- 



