WEASEL FAMILY. 



61 



After much discussion and difference of opinion, zoologists are 

 agreed that the ferret is merely a variety of the polecat, somewhat 

 modified by the effects of long-continued captivity. It is usually smaller and more 

 slender than the polecat, and is generally of a yellowish white colour, with pink 

 eyes, but there is also a brown variety known as the " polecat-ferret." Ferrets are 

 bred chiefly for rabbit and rat-hunting, both in Europe and the United States. 

 Although they learn to know their masters to a certain extent, they are un- 

 trustworthy animals, and should be handled with caution. The ferret has no 

 strong local attachments, and, therefore, requires to be strictly secured. It is also 

 very susceptible to cold. As is the case with many domesticated animals, ferrets 

 are more prolific than their wild allies, the number in a litter usually varying 



THE ferret (g natural size). 





from five to ten. The young are born in the spring ; but it is said that there 

 may sometimes be two litters in the year. 



In rabbit-catching the ferret is usually sent into the hole either muzzled or 

 attached to a coil of string, by which it can be withdrawn. If allowed to enter a 

 rabbit-hole unmuzzled, or without a string, ferrets are very likely to remain in 

 such good quarters, and to slaughter the occupants one after another. The usual 

 plan is to stop all the entrances to the burrows by means of small bag-like nets, in 

 which the rabbits are caught when they bolt ; but sometimes they are allowed to 

 bolt freely, and are either shot or coursed with dogs. In ferreting it is essential 

 that those who are present should be perfectly silent, as otherwise the rabbits will 

 prefer to be eaten alive by the ferret in their holes rather than attempt to escape. 

 It is also important that no one should stand immediately in front of the entrance 

 to the hole. When a ferret enters a burrow in which there are several rabbits, a 



