332 



ANIMALS OF 



above two years ; which, without doubt, was 

 owing to its imprisoned state ; this colour bring 

 partly owing to its stinted food, and partly to 

 the rigour of the season. During its state of 

 confinement, this little animal always continu- 

 ed very wild and untractahlc ; forever in a state 

 of violent agitation, except when asleep, which 

 it often continued for three parts of the day. 

 Except for its most disagreeable scent, it was 

 an extremely pretty creature, its eyes spright- 

 ly, its physiognomy pleasant, and its motions 

 so swift that the eye could scarce attend them. 

 It was fed with eggs and flesh, but it always 

 let them putrefy before it touched cither. As 

 some of this kind are known to be fond of 

 honey, it was tried to feed this animal with 

 such food for a while ; after having for three 

 or four days deprived it of other food, it ate of 

 this, and died shortly after ; a strong proof of 

 its being a distinct species from the pole-cat 

 or the martin, who feed upon honey, but 

 otherwise pretty much resemble the ermine in 

 their figure and dispositions. 



In the north of Europe and Siberia their 

 skins make a valuable article of commerce, 

 and they are found there much more frequent- 

 ly than among us. In Siberia they burrow in 

 the fields, and are taken in traps baited with 

 flesh. In Norway they are either shot with 

 blunt arrows, or taken in traps made of two 

 flat stones, one being propped with a stick, to 

 which is fastened a baited string, and when 

 the animals attempt to pull this way, the stone 

 drops and crushes them to death. This ani- 

 mal is sometimes found white in Great Britain, 

 and is then called a white weasel. Its furs, 

 however, among us are of no value, having 

 neither the thickness, the closeness, nor the 

 whiteness of those which come from Siberia. 

 The fur of the ermine, in every country, 

 changes by time ; for, as much of its beautiful 

 whiteness is given it by certain arts known to 

 the furriers, so its natural colour returns, and its 

 former whiteness can never be restored again. 



THE FERRET. 



THE animal next in size to the ermine, is 

 the ferret ; which is a kind of domestic in Eu- 

 rope, though said to be originally brought from 

 Africa into Spain, which being a country 

 abounding in rabbits, required an animal of 



this kind more than nny other : however this 

 be, it is not to be found at present among us, 

 except in its domestic state ; and it is chiefly 

 kept tame, for the purposes of the warren. 



The ferret is about one foot long, being 

 nearly four inches longer than the weasel. It 

 resembles that animal in the slenderness of its 

 body, and the shortness of its legs ; but its uose 

 is sharper, and its body more slender, in pro- 

 portion to its length. The ferret is commonly 

 of a cream colour; but they are also found of 

 all the colours of the weasel kind ; white, 

 blackish, brown, and party-coloured. Those 

 that are of the whitish kind, have their eyes 

 red, as is almost general with all animals en- 

 tirely of that colour. But its principal distinc- 

 tion from the weasel, is the length of the hair 

 on its tail, which is much longer in the ferret 

 than the weasel. Words will not well express the 

 other distinctions ; and what might take up a 

 page in dull discrimination, a single glance of 

 the eye, when the animals themselves are pre- 

 sented, can discover. 



As this animal is a native of the torrid zone,* 

 so it cannot bear the rigours of our climate 

 without care and ^shelter ; and it generally 

 repays the trouble of its keeping, by its great 

 agility in the warren. It is naturally such au 

 enemy of the rabbit kind, that if a dead rabbit 

 be presented to a young ferret, although it has 

 never seen one before, it instantly attacks and 

 bites it with an appearance of rapacity. If the 

 rabbit be living, the ferret is still more eager, 

 seizes it by the neck, winds itself round it, and 

 continues to suck its blood, till it be satiated. 



Their chief use in warrens is to enter the 

 holes, and drive the rabbits into the nets that 

 are prepared for them at the mouth. For this 

 purpose, the ferret is muzzled ; otherwise, in- 

 stead of driving out the rabbit, it would con- 

 tent itself with killing and sucking its blood at 

 the bottom of the hole ; but, by this contri 

 vance, being rendered unable to seize its prey, 

 the rabbit escapes from its claws, and instantly 

 makes to the mouth of the hole with such pre- 

 cipitation, that it is inextricably entangled in 

 the net, placed there for its reception. It oftea 

 happens, however, that the ferret- disengages 

 itself of its muzzle, and ihen it is most com 

 monly lost, unless it be dug out ; for, finding 

 all its wants satisfied in the warren, it never 



a Burton. 



