The Polecat. 61 



THE POLECAT. ( Mustela putorius.) 



THE strong and disagreeable smell of this animal is pro- 

 verbial; its skin is stiff, hard, and rugged, and when 

 well prepared, is very desirable as clothing. It is about 

 seventeen inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which 

 is about six inches. The breast, tail, and legs are of 

 a blackish colour, but the belly and sides yellowish* It 

 sometimes conceals itself in secret corners about houses, 

 and is then a disastrous pest to the poultry -yard. These 

 animals usually frequent the woods and destroy a great 

 quantity of game; and some, forsaking the haunts of 

 man, retire to the rocks and crevices of the cliffs on the 

 sea shore, preferring a meagre and scanty diet with 

 security, to the daintiness of chicken-flesh and eggs, 

 attended with trouble and fear. Rabbits seem to be 

 their favourite prey, and a single Polecat is often suffi- 

 cient to destroy a whole warren ; for with that insa- 

 tiable thirst for blood which is natural to all the weasel 

 tribe, it kills much more than it can devour; and 

 twenty rabbits have been found dead, which one Pole- 

 cat had destroyed by a wound hardly perceptible. The 

 Polecat is the same with the Fitchet or Foumart, the hair 

 of which is made into fine brushes and pencils for 

 the use of painters. This small animal is fierce and 

 bold. When attacked by a dog, it will defend itself 

 with great spirit, attack him in turn, fastening upon 

 the nose of its enemy with so keen a bite, as frequently 

 to oblige him to desist. When heated or enraged, the 

 smell it emits is absolutely intolerable. 



