The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 1 59 



which we became aware for the first time on that 

 occasion. To avoid a dog that was in close pursuit, 

 it mounted a tree and laid itself flat on a limb 

 about twenty feet from the ground, from which it 

 was finally shot. We have ascertained by suc- 

 cessful experiments, repeated more than a hundred 

 times, that the ermine can be employed, in the 

 manner of the ferret of Europe, in driving our 

 American rabbit from the burrow into which it has 

 retreated. In one instance, the ermine employed 

 had been captured only a few days before, and its 

 canine teeth were filed in order to prevent its 

 destroying the rabbit ; a cord was placed around 

 its neck to secure its return. It pursued the hare 

 through all the windings of its burrow and forced 

 it to the mouth, where it could be taken in a net, 

 or by the hand. In winter, after a snow storm, the 

 ruffled grouse has a habit of plunging into the loose 

 snow, where it remains at times for one or two days. 

 In this passive state the ermine sometimes detects 

 and destroys it. In an unsuccessful attempt at 

 domesticating this grouse by fastening its feet to a 

 board in the mode adopted with the stool pigeon, 

 and placing it high on a shelf, an ermine, which we 

 had kept as a pet, found its Avay by the curtains of 

 the window, and put an end to our experiment by 

 eating off the head of our crouse. 



