STOATS AND WEASELS 45 



stoat changes its colour, very much according to 

 the season, that it is an animal more or less un- 

 affected by cold, it would seem probable that our 

 breed of ferrets may have had its origin in a cross 

 between the polecat and the stoat. Ferrets are, 

 however, very sensitive to cold, and require to be 

 carefully housed during severe weather in order 

 to keep them in health. This has reference more 

 particularly to the white ferrets than to those 

 which, having been crossed with the polecat, are 

 similar to that animal in colour, and are more 

 generally powerful and hardy. 



Keepers and others are very apt to confound 

 the stoat, or ermine, as it is sometimes termed, 

 with the weasel, although the difference between 

 the two is very marked. The weasel, called by 

 the country-folk 'wizzle,' is not nearly as large as 

 the stoat ; though similar in shape, its colour is 

 more decidedly ruddy than the stoat, nor does 

 it change its colour. The habits of both animals 

 are much the same, but the stoat is the more 

 powerful. Both do good by destroying rats and 

 mice, etc., and both do harm, being inveterate 

 poachers, destroying game and poultry whenever 

 they get the chance. It is asserted by some 

 authorities that they do not hunt by scent. This 

 can hardly be the case, since they will follow 

 a rabbit or leveret through dense covert, and 

 steadily hunt it down, when they seize it by the 

 back of the head, and speedily destroy it. Apart 

 from size and change of colour, they differ very 



