CHAPTER THIRTEEN WEASELS 



THE bloodthirstiness and ferocity of all the 

 weasel tribe is perfectly wonderful. The pro- 

 verb L'appdtit vient en ntangeant is well ap- 

 plied to these little animals. The more blood 

 they spill, the more they long for, and are not content till 

 every animal that they can get at is slain. A she ferret, with 

 a litter of young ones, contrived to get loose a few nights 

 back, and instinctively made her way to the henhouse, 

 accompanied by her six kittens, who were not nearly half- 

 grown, indeed their eyes were not quite open. Seven hens 

 and a number of tame rabbits were killed before they were 

 discovered;andevery animal that they killed, notwithstand- 

 ing its weight and size, was dragged to the hutch in which 

 the ferrets were kept, and as they could not get their vict- 

 ims through the hole by which they had escaped themselves 

 aperfectheapof dead bodies wascollected round their hutch. 

 When I looked out of my window in the morning, I had the 

 satisfaction of seeing four of the young ferrets, covered 

 with blood, dragging a hen (who I had flattered myself 

 was about to hatch a brood of young pheasants) across the 

 yard which was between the henhouse and where these fer- 

 rets were kept; the remainder of them were assisting the 

 old one in slaughtering some white rabbits. Their eagerness 

 to escape again, and renew their bloody attacks, showed 

 the excited state the little wretches were in, from this their 

 first essay in killing. 



In the same way thewild animals of the tribe must bewo- 

 fully destructive when opportunity is afforded them. Sitting 

 opposite a rabbit-hole, I one day saw a tiny weasel bring out 

 four young rabbits one after the other, and carry, or rather 

 16.^ 



