370 Field Museum of Natural History — ■ Zoology, Vol. XL 



and carried it to the nest. Upon cutting open this log, five young 

 weasels were found, and the remains of a large number of mice, doubt- 

 less conveyed there as food. Pleased to learn that his supposed enemy 

 w^as in fact a friend, and his poultry being at considerable distance, the 

 farmer spared the young ones, intending to continue his observations; 

 but upon examination the next morning, they had disappeared, having 

 probably been carried by the mother to a more secure retreat. I have 

 frequently found the half-eaten remains of meadow-mice in their own 

 burrows, or under corn-stacks, which had doubtless been destroyed by 

 this weasel, or perhaps the smaller one {Putorius cicognanii). It is 

 surprising that an animal so large as this should be able to force its 

 way into the burrow of meadow-mice ; and yet it appears to do so without 

 diflficulty. 



"Stacks and barnfuls of grain are often over-run with rats and mice; 

 but let a weasel take up his residence there, and soon the pests will 

 disappear. A weasel will, occasionally, remain for some time in a bam, 

 feeding on these vermin, without disturbing the fowls. But it is never 

 safe to trust one near the poultry-yard, for, when once an attack is 

 made, there is no limit to the destruction. When the animal has entered 

 stacks or barns, it has the curious habit of collecting in a particular 

 place the bodies of all the rats and mice it has slain; thus, sometimes, a 

 pile of a hundred or more of their victims may be seen which have been 

 killed in the course of two or three nights. 



"The weasel preys largely upon the grey rabbit, pursuing it to its 

 hole, and killing it there. Like the mink, too, it tracks its prey by the 

 scent, so that the rabbit is lost if once he seeks refuge in a burrow or 

 hollow tree. It also captures many ground-squirrels by following them 

 into their holes, and frequently succeeds in killing quails, and sometimes 

 birds as l«,rge as the grouse. Insects are doubtless its principal food. 

 Numerous experiments are said to have proved that this species can be 

 used in the manner of the European ferret for driving rabbits from their 

 haunts; and it is probable that it would be found serviceable in a state 

 of domestication for destroying rats and mice. It is readily tamed and 

 kept, making pleasant as well as useful pets when due care is exercised 

 to prevent its attacking poultry. It would probably soon free houses 

 of the troublesome Norway rat, as it could pass through every hole 

 entered thereby. 



"Like all the family, the weasel is nocturnal, though in some in- 

 stances it is seen hunting by day. It is very active, and one may 

 sometimes be tracked in the snow through a journey of two or three 

 miles, made in a single night. It is, however, more attached to a per- 

 manent residence than the mink. It is not at all aquatic, nor does it, 



