FERRETS, MINK, SKUNK, RACCOON, ETC. 123 



that tlie only thing that can whip my ferrets here 

 is the groundhog and opossum, that is, those that 

 live in the ledges." 



A party in Minnesota who has raised ferrets 

 for several years says: ^'While rabbits and 

 brown rats are the most common animals that 

 ferrets are used for however some will drive out 

 mink but never saw one that would tackle a 

 skunk. Generally speaking ferrets are too large 

 to be of much use in hunting the common ground 

 squirrel, yet I have used half-grown ones for 

 squirrels with success." 



A ferret user in the state of West Virginia 

 who has a great deal of experience in hunting 

 with these animals says : ^'Once while out rab- 

 bit hunting in the morning, when there was no 

 snow on the ground, my dog trailed around 

 through the forest, and at last went to barking 

 in a cliff of rocks. I went to him, thinking it 

 was only a rabbit. I let my ferret down and in. 

 The ferret was gone about a minute when I 

 heard the supposed rabbit start. The noise grew 

 a little loud for a rabbit and just then I caught 

 sight of a large raccoon coming out. As soon as 

 it was outside of the hole, the dog and I killed it. 



^^On another occasion my dog kept trailing 

 around an overlianging rock, under which was a 

 lot of leaves. I thought possibly there was a 



