358 THE POLECAT-FERRET. 
When the grass-tuft was removed, a litter of young rats was seen, over whom the 
mother was keeping such undaunted watch. She did not attempt to escape, but ever and 
anon, as the Ferret drew within a certain distance, she flew at him, and knocked him 
over, inflicting a fresh bite on every attack, so that the assailant was being worsted. 
At last, being encumbered with the weight of two little rats, which clung too firmly to 
their parent, she made a false leap, and was seized in the fatal embrace of the Ferret, who 
would soon have put an end to the valiant defender of her young had not the owner of 
the Ferret come to the rescue and disengaged the cruel teeth from their hold. But so 
furious was the mother rat, that when she was released from her foe she again flew at it, 
and inflicted several severe bites. Its owner then held the Ferret by its tail, and was 
carrying it away, when the rat, after making several ineffectual springs, actually leapt 
upon him, ran up his legs and body, and along his outstretched arm, so as to get at her 
hated enemy, on whom she inflicted another bite and fell to the around. A second time 
she attempted this manceuvre, and when frustrated in her wishes, set up her back and 
bade defiance to man and beast. 
To the honour of the human spectator, he took a great interest in the valiant little 
animal, and recularly supplied her with food until her offspring were able to shift for 
themselves. 
The practice of muzzling the Ferret when it is wanted for the purpose of hunting 
seems not to be invariably necessary, for one practical sportsman asserts that, except in 
the case of very young Ferrets, the best plan is to leave the creature’s mouth free, and to 
feed it moderately before it is permitted to enter the burrows. It sometimes happens that 
a rabbit is so stricken by fear that it cannot be induced to leave its home, and in that 
case the Ferret will waste its time in trying to urge the refractory animal to move. But 
if the mouth of the Ferret should remain free, it will then speedily kill the rabbit, and 
not being hungry, will leave the dead body in the burrow, and proceed in search of other 
victims. 
In spite of all precautions, it does sometimes happen that the Ferret will not leave the 
burrow, and in that case it must either be laboriously dug out or relinquished to the 
certain fate which befalls all Ferrets when they are exposed to the frosty atmosphere of an 
English winter. To drive a Ferret out of a rabbit-burrow by means of fire and smoke is 
almost an impossibility, as the animal is capable of withstanding a considerable amount of 
asphyxiation with impunity, and the burrows are furnished with so many openings to the 
fresh air that the stifling vapour escapes before it can be sufficiently concentrated to have 
its proper effect on the delinquent. 
It is evident from these few remarks that the nurture, training, and management 
of the Ferret is a work of some difficulty, and that a really good animal may be spoiled 
by the ignorance or carelessness of its owner. An excellent Ferret was once so cowed by 
the ill-result of a defeat in single combat with a rat, that it would never afterwards even 
face one of these animals. The rat had been caught in a box- -trap by one of its hind 
legs, and the Ferret was put into the trap for the purpose of killing the rat. In a 
short time, however, when the trap was opened, the Ferret rushed out, “bleeding ereatly, 
and completely subdued. The fact was, that on account of the shape of “the trap, 
the Ferret was unable to have recourse to its usual mode of attack, while the rat was 
placed in precisely the position which was best suited for defence. 
I conclude this notice of the Ferret with a short anecdote which has been related 
by M2. Jesse, in his “ Gleanings in Natural History,” and quoted by Mr. Bell in the 
British Quadrupeds, for the purpose of cautioning the owners of Ferrets from placing 
too strict a reliance on the tameness of so bloodthirsty an animal. 
A poor woman ran into the house of a surgeon, screaming with terror, and bearing 
in her arms a poor child, which was terribly mangled, and had been attacked by a Ferret. 
It seemed that the mother had left her infant, a child of some few months of age, 
in its cradle, while she left her home on some household business. When she returned, 
she found the child in a fearfully wounded state, its face, neck, and arms being torn, 
some of the chief blood-vessels opened, and the eyes greatly injured. 
After attending to the wounded child, the surgeon accompanied the mother to 
