THE POLECAT. 171 



to his place of .concealment, leaving the bodies 

 behind. 



In Lorraine, and some of the adjacent cantons, 

 Polecats are very numerous; and consequently 

 there, as elsewhere, they commit great havoc in the 

 poultry yards. Yet, says Sonnini, such are the 

 superstitious prejudices in their favour, that the 

 inhabitants will on no account attempt to destroy 

 them. They pretend that Polecats never commit 

 any damage in the dwellings where they reside; 

 thus, at the same time that they know and acknow- 

 ledge their voracious disposition, they believe that 

 the animals entertain a strangely unusual respect 

 for hospitality*. 



The Polecat, during summer, generally lives in 

 woods, thick brakes, or about rabbet-warrens. 

 Here, if he cannot find ready made a hole that 

 suits him, he forms for himself, in the ground, a 

 retreat not usually more than two yards in length, 

 which, if possible, he contrives to end among the 

 roots of some large tree. Issuing from thence, 

 he often commits surprising depredations on game 

 and Rabbets. A single family of Polecats, left 

 undisturbed, it is said, are sometimes sufficient to 

 destroy a whole waixen. It is asserted that these 

 animals are so fond of honey, that in winter, when 

 the bees are weakened by the rigours of the season, 



* Buffon par Sonnini, xxv, p, 113, note. 



they 



