MAMMALS. 57 



there is a thick greyish under-fur. This fur is of con- 

 siderable value, a good skin fetching ios., but of course 

 those used here are imported from the Continent. Total 

 length, 30 inches, of which the tail forms nearly half. 

 As already mentioned the Marten is often called, 

 erroneously, the Wild Cat. 



POLECAT. Provincial name, Fitchet ; domesticated, Ferret. 



Mustela putorius. Few animals of its size are so destruc- 



tive of game, poultry, etc., as the 

 Polecat, and the result of the bad character it bears is 

 that it is shot and trapped at every opportunity. Early 

 in the present century it was quite common in Shrop- 

 shire, and it could not be called rare in 1850, but from 

 that time forward the number has diminished so rapidly 

 that the time cannot now be far distant when it will 

 be as extinct locally as the Marten. Amongst the most 

 recent occurrences in the County are the following : 

 One seen in Stokes Wood, Craven Arms, in 1895 ; an- 

 other shot at Leighton, near Cressage, in 1897; while it is 

 reported as still existing in the neighbourhood of Bishop's 

 Castle and about Kinnerley. Mr. T. Ruddy writes that, 

 about 50 years ago, the Polecat was regularly hunted in 

 the neighbourhood of Corwen. One of the animals was 

 let out of a box on the evening prior to the hunt, and 

 next morning by which time it had found a retreat in 

 some hole the hunting party followed the cold scent 

 with strong dogs for many a mile. In Cumberland the 

 dogs used for the purpose were called Fell-hounds. 

 The Polecat only comes abroad by night, lying 

 concealed during the day in an old Rabbit hole, 

 or in crevices amongst rocks or loose stones. Its 

 hiding place is generally situated in a copse or on 



