GROUP OF THE MARTENS. 



223 



good swimmer, creeps about everywhere, and 

 shows great circumspection in avoiding the 

 traps and snares set to catch him, as well as 

 in keeping out of the range of musket-shot 

 designed for him. In certain districts where 

 the beech-marten is not rare he is pursued 

 by the proprietors with inexpressible fury; 

 of all our native animals he is certainly the 

 one that draws down the most fervent curses 

 on his head. And justly too, for the beech- 



marten is, perhaps, still more bloodthirsty 

 than the pine-marten, and when he has 

 succeeded in making his way into a poultry- 

 yard murders every living thing. Often he 

 is found after such a nocturnal massacre 

 sleeping in the midst of his slaughtered 

 victims, as if intoxicated by their blood. 

 Certain noises, for example, the filing of a 

 saw or the sharpening of a scythe, can set 

 the sensitive beech- marten so beside himself 



Fig. 116. The Sable (Mustela. zotellina}. 



that he forgets his usual caution. This 

 device is often resorted to in order to kill 

 him. A man begins filing a saw in the 

 vicinity of some well-known retreat of his, 

 while another armed with a gun lies in wait 

 for the animal, well concealed. The beech- 

 marten, with hair erect, darts furiously out 

 on the musician who tickles his ears so 

 unpleasantly, and meets his death before he 

 can reach him. 



The beech -marten is easily distinguished 

 from the pine marten by his grayer fur, the 

 white colour of the throat-patch, by his longer 

 tail, and also by some peculiarities in the 

 structure of his upper carnassial and upper 

 tubercled tooth. The young can be more 

 easily tamed than those of the pine-marten. 



They become obedient and attached to their 

 master, and even make themselves useful in 

 houses by hunting rats and mice. The fur 

 has a much lower value than that of the 

 pine-marten. 



The Sable (Mustela zobellina), fig. 116, is 

 the king of the martens on account of its 

 extraordinarily soft thick fur, which appears 

 of a blackish colour on the back and feet, and 

 exhibits an ill-defined yellowish patch on the 

 throat. The down is grayish yellow inclining 

 to red. Many varieties of colour are met 

 with. The darker the colour and the glossier 

 the hair, the more costly is the fur. Although 

 the sable is no larger than our marten, .24 

 is paid on the spot for a fine black sable-fur. 

 The largest sables attain a length of 1 8 inches. 



