282 REMINISCENCES OF A SPOETSMAN. 



supposed to be the case. The hairs are not entirely- 

 white, even in their most completely blanched state, 

 but partake of a very delicate cream yellow. In these 

 comparatively temperate latitudes the stoat is never 

 sufficiently blanched to render its fur of any commercial 

 value, and the hair appears to be longer, thicker, and 

 whiter in proportion to the degree of latitude in which 

 the animal has been taken. The traps which are used 

 for the purpose of destroying the stoat are formed so as 

 to kill the animal by a sudden blow, without wounding 

 the skin ; and many of the beautiful little creatures 

 are taken in the ordinary snares. Providence has given 

 to the stoat this white Colour of its fur as a protection 

 from its enemies when the ground is covered with snow. 

 Putting aside the mode in which the fur changes its 

 colour, the principal object of it appears to be to defend 

 the wearer against the intense cold which reigns in those 

 northern regions. In this country, where the lowest 

 temperature is considerably above that of the ordinary 

 winter degrees, the stoat is very uncertain in its change 

 of fur. In the autumn, when the stoat is beginning 

 to assume its wintry dress, and in the spring when it is 

 beginning to lose the snowy mantle of the wintry 

 months, the fur is generally found to be marked with 

 irregular patches of dark and white spots. Mr. Thomp- 

 son, in his " Natural History of Ireland," says that he 

 saw a stoat which was captured on the 27th of January 

 1846, which was wholly white, with the exception of a 

 brown spot on each side of its face, yet the winter had 

 been remarkably mild. Two white stoats were killed in 

 Ayrshire, 1839. 



The stoat is a most determined hunter, pursuing 

 its game with such pertinacious skill that it very seldom 



