18S7-88.] Stoats and Weasels. 169 



attracted attention was caused by tlie old pair of rabbits de- 

 fending themselves as they best could ; but there is no doubt 

 that, had attention not been attracted, they -would have shared 

 the same fate as their progeny. 



A gruesome trait of the weasel tribe is their cannibalistic 

 tendencies. When one is shot or trapped in a district they 

 frequent, and is left lying about, it is quickly removed and 

 eaten by its kin. I have also observed that if a couple are 

 confined in the same box, the weaker is certain to be killed and 

 eaten by the stronger, even though an abundance of food is in 

 the box beside them. In their wild state nothing makes a 

 better bait for trapping weasels than one of their own species. 



Eeceiving information from those who had previously trans- 

 ported weasels that, irrespective of sex, three were put in each 

 box, I, as a matter of course, adopted the same tactics. I soon 

 discovered, however, that this method would be most unprofi- 

 table, as in every case two of them were killed, and generally 

 the survivor died from his wounds. Acquiring knowledge by 

 experience, I got boxes made, and confined them separately, 

 with the most satisfactory results ; and as I have kept them 

 many weeks, evidently in a thriving condition, I see no difficulty 

 whatever in transporting them to New Zealand, provided 

 cleanliness and fresh water are punctually attended to. All 

 carnivorous animals drink a large quantity of water. 



It was also asserted, by those who are considered to be com- 

 petent authorities, that live pigeons had to be shipped along 

 with the weasels, in order to give them warm food, blood be- 

 ing deemed indispensable. This dictum I have also exploded, 

 having fed them for weeks on cold meat and eggs, with the 

 best possible results. In feeding them on pigeons, I dis- 

 covered that, as a rule, the head and neck were the first parts 

 eaten. I would therefore suggest, for the information of those 

 transporting weasels, that a large number of the heads and 

 necks of chickens, which can be got from poulterers at a 

 nominal price, should be put in the refrigerators, and these, 

 along with eggs, would constitute the best and cheapest food 

 that can be obtained. In a consignment of three hundred 

 weasels, fed on live pigeons, the expense is enormous. Allow- 

 ing a couple of months to collect them, and a voyage of six or 

 seven weeks' duration, many thousands of pigeons are neces- 



