296 CARNIVORA. 



larder of the Polecat, and the nests of the wild bees are not safe from the 

 intrusions of this daring plunderer. 



The Ferret, Putorius furo (Plate XIX), is an African polecat, and 

 requires, in England, where it is used in rabbit-hunting, to be preserved 

 carefully from cold or frost. One variety is of a creamy white color, with 

 bright pink eyes, another, produced by crossing with the Polecat, is 

 darker and fiercer. 



When used for hunting rabbits, it is usually muzzled before it is sent 

 into the burrow, for if its teeth were at liberty, it would kill the first 

 rabbit it met, and remain sucking its blood. It is a very fierce animal, 

 and apt to turn on its owner. A tame one has been known to attack a 

 child in the cradle, mangling it terribly. 



The Ermine or Stoat, Putorius crminms (Plate XIX), is larger than 

 the Weasel. It is a determined hunter, and tolerably swift, possessing 

 good powers of scent, and singular endurance. It has, however, obtained 

 its fame from the beauty of its fur. In summer its coat is of a reddish- 

 brown, not quite so ruddy as that of the weasel, but in winter it becomes 

 entirely white, with the exception of the tail, two-thirds of which remain 

 black. Two explanations of this change of color have been given. One 

 is that new and white hairs are produced in autumn to supply the place 

 of the falling brown ones. The other, which is now generally accepted, 

 is that the summer hairs become blanched. 



The hairs are not entirely white, even in their most completely 

 blanched state, but partake of a very delicate cream-yellow, especially 

 upon the under portions, while the slightly bushy tip of the tail remains 

 in its original black tinting, and presents a singular contrast to the 

 remainder of the fur. In temperate latitudes, the Stoat is never suf- 

 ficiently blanched to render its fur of any commercial value, and the hair 

 appears to be longer, thicker, and whiter in proportion to the degree of 

 latitude in which the animal has been taken. As may be supposed, from 

 the extreme delicacy of the skin in its wintry whiteness, the capture of 

 the Stoat for the purpose of obtaining its fur is a matter of no small dif- 

 ficulty. The traps which are used for the purpose of destroying the 

 Stoat are formed so as to kill the animal by a sudden blow, without 

 wounding the skin ; and many of the beautiful little creatures are taken 

 in ordinary snares. 



The Ermine is extensively diffused over the northern regions of the 

 Old World ; the colder the climate is, the more valuable the fur becomes, 



