156 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 



partially j^uarded against, in the case of bones and large pieces, by making 

 the entrance as small as possible. We feed skimmed milk, beef-heads, and 

 other meats ; salt meat is said to produce scurvy. Milk fattens a ferret very 

 rapidly, and they are apt to get too fat on this diet. 



" My menagerie is run upon economical principles, and it is a hard specimen 

 of either animal or vegetable that does not find a consumer. A kingfisher 

 hovering over the ponds is apt to tumble in; he is then skinned, and if the 

 fish are not hungry it goes to the ferrets. A fat woodchuck goes in — there's 

 provision for several days. A hen-hawk "towering in his pride of place'' 

 over my young fowl, often finds a lasting repose in the ferret-yard ; while 

 the refuse of fresh fish is also eagerly devoured. Chicken heads often afford 

 an occasional variety. I have a pair of mink who will eat as much in one 

 day as two ferrets would in three ; they will devour the entire carcass of a 

 muskrat in twenty -four hours. 



" In handling a ferret take it with the hand around the ribs, and if it 

 struggles let its fore legs go through the fingers ; they do not like to be held 

 below the ribs. Do not handle young ferrets until nearly grown ; do not 

 handle a female about to have a litter. Their period of gestation is about 

 forty-five days I think, — can't speak positively on this point, — it may be a 

 few days more or less ; they usually have a litter of from five to ten in May 

 or June. I have heard of their having two litters in one season, but it has 

 never occurred with me. When about to have young, put each female in a 

 box by herself, and don't let the young run with the old male until they can 

 use their teeth to defend themselves. I prefer to say male and female, 

 though some call them dog-ferret and bitch ; and last winter a man in Buf- 

 falo said, ' In the hold country we calls 'em a 'ob and a gill.' 



" In handling wild ferrets put on a pair of leather gloves and pick them 

 up, rub their heads and pat them, and in a few days you can take your bare 

 hand. Now a word about 'trained' ferrets. That is all humbug. A fer- 

 ret that is tame and well handled will go into a hole and go to the bottom 

 of it, and come out if it finds nothing; hunting is their nature, and a little 

 fasting stimulates them wonderfully. Those kept for rats are generally 

 worked with dogs ; and although I have often run the rats out of my barn 

 with them, it is especially for rabbit hunting that I keep them. They are 

 of no use for the large white rabbit, but I used to find that the little gray 

 fellow that abounds in the vicinity of Honeoyo Falls had a very unsocial 

 way of sitting in his hole under ground and declining to come out and have 

 fun, but since I have used ferrets he has changed his habits. With the 

 sneaking method of netting the rabbit at the mouth of the hole when driven 

 out with a ferret I have no kind of sympathy, but as * Molly Cotton ' clears 

 the hole with a ten-foot bound after passing a ferret, and keeps going 

 faster if possible, often into a thicket, it is sport to stop her. Some prefer a 

 very small ferret, as they use them without a muzzle and they cannot hold 

 a rabbit as a large one does; but I prefer a good. stout fellow, and if he is 

 disposed to kill a rabbit (their dispositions vary) I muzzle him. A muzzle 

 is made of a small piece of leather shaped like a letter T, a little wider at 

 the bottom however ; a string is put in each end of the top and one in each 

 lower corner, the leather is put under his chin and the top piece tied 

 around his nose ; the'other two strings are tied behind his ears. Some have 

 the lips pierced, and after healing they are tied shut. I have never tried 

 this, nor breaking the teeth, which latter practice is brutal. The ferret can 



