MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA 111 



superlative bloodthirstiness, he at any rate kills instinctively 

 more than he can possibly require for his support. I know not 

 where to find a parallel among the larger Carnivora. Yet once 

 more, which one of the larger animals will defend itself or its 

 young at such enormous odds? A glance at the physiognomy 

 of the Weasels would suffice to betray their character. The 

 teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character; the 

 jaws are worked by enormous masses of muscles covering all 

 the side of the skull. The forehead is low, and the nose is 

 sharp; the eyes are small, penetrating, cunning; and glitter 

 with an angry green light. There is something peculiar, more- 

 over, in the way that this fierce face surmounts a body extraor- 

 dinarily wiry, lithe, and muscular. It ends a remarkably long 

 and slender neck in such way that it may be held at right 

 angle with the axis of the latter. When the creature is glan- 

 cing around, with the neck stretched up, and flat triangular 

 head bent forward, swaying from one side to the other, we 

 catch the likeness in a moment it is the image of a serpent. 



In further illustration of the character of the Stoat, I con- 

 tinue with an extract from Audubon, which represents nearly 

 all that has appeared to the point in this country: 



"Graceful in form, rapid in his movements, and of untiring 

 industry, he is withal a brave and fearless little fellow; con- 

 scious of security within the windings of his retreat among the 

 logs, or heap of stones, he permits us to approach him within 

 a few feet, then suddenly withdraws his head; we remain still 

 for a moment, and he once more returns to his post of observa- 

 tion, watching curiously our every motion; seeming willing to 

 claim association so long as we abstain from becoming his per- 

 secutor. 



"Yet with all these external attractions, this little Weasel 

 is fierce and bloodthirsty, possessing an intuitive propensity 

 to destroy every animal and bird within its reach, some of 

 which, such as the American rabbit, the ruffed grouse and 

 domestic fowl, are ten times its own size. It is a notorious 

 and hated depredator of the poultry house, and we have 

 known forty well-grown fowls to have been killed in one 

 night by a single Ermine. Satiated with the blood of proba- 

 bly a single fowl, the rest, like the flock slaughtered by the 

 wolf in the sheepfold, were destroyed in obedience to a law of 

 nature, an instinctive propensity to kill. We have traced the 

 footsteps of this bloodsucking little animal on the snow, pur- 

 suing the trail of the American rabbit, and although it could 



