CHAPTER THIRTEEN WEASELS 



weasel, this animal is easily caught in box-traps, and is at- 

 tracted in an extraordinary manner by the smell of musk, 

 which they appear quite unable to resist. 



In trapping all these small beasts with iron traps the 

 bait should be suspended at some little height above the 

 trap, to oblige them to jump up, and by so doing there is a 

 better chance that, notwithstanding their light weight, the 

 trap will be sprung. 



Formerly I frequently mistook the track of the marten- 

 cat for that of a hare, when seen in the snow. Its way of 

 placing its feet, and of moving by a succession of leaps, is 

 quite similar to that of the more harmless animal, which 

 so often serves it for food. The general abode of the mar- 

 ten is in woods and rocky cairns. He is a very beautiful 

 and graceful animal, with a fine fur, quite devoid of all 

 smell, but owing to its great agility it must be one of the 

 most destructive of the tribe. When hunting, their move- 

 ments are quick and full of elegance, the effect of which is 

 much heightened by their brilliant black eyes and rich 

 brown fur, contrasted with the orange-coloured mark on 

 their throat and breast. The marten, when disturbed by 

 dogs, climbs a tree with the agility of a squirrel, and leaps 

 from branch to branch, and from tree to tree. I used 

 frequently to shoot them with my rifle on the tall pine- 

 trees in Sutherland. In this part of the country they are 

 now seldom seen. This animal is not wholly carnivorous, 

 being very fond of some fruits — the strawberry and rasp- 

 berry, for instance. I found in my garden in Inverness- 

 shire that some animal came nightly to the raspberry- 

 bushes; the track appeared like that of a rabbit or hare, 

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