THE WEASEL. 



285 



pass which will not quite as readily suffer the passage of the Weasel ; and as the Weasel is 

 most determined and pertinacious in pursuit, it seldom happens that rats or mice escape when 

 their little foe has set itself fairly on their track. 



Not only does the Weasel pursue its prey through the ramifications of the burrows, but it 

 possesses in a very large degree the faculty of hunting by scent, and is capable of following its 

 prey through all its windings, even though it should not come within sight until the termina- 

 tion of the chase. It will even cross water in the chase of its prey. When it has at last 

 reached its victim, it leaps upon the devoted 

 creature, and endeayors to fix its teeth in the 

 back of the neck, where it retains its deadly 

 hold in spite of every struggle on the part of 

 the wounded animal. If the attack be rightly 

 made, and the animal be a small one, it can 

 drive its teeth into the brain, and cause instan- 

 taneous insensibility. The gamekeeper has some 

 reason for his dislike to the Weasel, as it is very 

 fond of eggs and young birds of all kinds, and 

 is too prone to rob the nests of eggs or young. 

 It is said that an egg which has been broken by 

 a Weasel can always be recognized by the pecu- 

 liar mode which the little creature employs for 

 the purpose. Instead of breaking the egg to 

 pieces, or biting a large hole in the shell, the 

 Weasel contents itself with making quite a 

 small aperture at one end, through which it 

 abstracts the liquid contents. 



So determined a poacher is the Weasel 

 that it has been seen to capture even full-grown 

 birds. A Weasel has been seen to leap from the 

 ground into the midst of a covey of partridges, 

 just as they were rising on the wing, and to 

 bring one of them to the earth. When the spec- 

 tator of this curious occurrence reached the spot, 

 he found the Weasel in the act of devouring 

 the bird, which it had already lulled. This 

 adventure took place about the end of the month 

 of October. The birds were more than two feet from the ground when the attack was made 

 upon them. 



Another Weasel was seen to capture and kill a rook in a somewhat similar manner. The 

 rooks had discovered the Weasel in a field, and after their custom on such occasions, had 

 gathered round it, and commenced mobbing it. Suddenly, just as one of the rooks made a 

 lower stoop than usual, the Weasel leaped at its tormentor and dashed it to the ground. The 

 dissonant cries of the rooks as they scolded the Weasel attracted the attention of a horseman 

 who was passing by, who arrived at the spot just as the bird had been killed. It lay on the 

 ground dead, from a wound in its neck ; its murderer having taken shelter in a neighboring 

 hedge. As soon, however, as the horseman withdrew, the Weasel emerged from its hiding- 

 place, and dragged the dead rook under the shelter of the bushes. 



Although the Weasel proved the victor in this instance, it does not always meet with 

 equal success, especially when it matches its mental powers against those of a superior kind. 

 The predilection of this animal for eggs has already been mentioned, and the Weasel will take 

 great pains in order to secure the coveted luxury. A gentleman, who had discovered a furtive 

 nest made by one of his hens in a hedgerow, was witness to a curious scene. Just as the hen 

 had laid an egg, she issued from her nest, cackling triumphantly, as is the manner of hens 

 upon such occasions. A Weasel, which had been observed at a great distance stretching its 



vulgarit. 



