FERRET. 419 



almost continually, and when awake, immediately 

 begins to search about for food : it is usually fed 

 with bread and milk; but its favourite food is 

 the blood of the smaller animals. It is by nature 

 an enemy to the Rabbet; and it is affirmed by 

 Buffon, that whenever a dead Rabbet is presented 

 for the first time to a young Ferret, he flies upon 

 it in an instant, and bites it with great fury; but 

 if it be alive, he seizes it by the throat and sucks 

 its blood. When let into the burrows of Rab- 

 bets, the Ferret is always muzzled, that it may 

 not kill the Rabbets in their holes, but only drive 

 them out in order to be caught in the nets. If 

 the Ferret be put in without a muzzle, or happens 

 to disengage himself from it, he is often lost; for 

 after sucking the blood of the Rabbet, he falls 

 asleep, and cannot be regained, except sometimes 

 by smoking the hole, in order to oblige him to 

 come out ; but as this is a practice which does 

 not always succeed, it continues to lead a rapa- 

 cious and solitary life in the warren, as long as 

 the summer continues, and perishes by the cold 

 of the winter. 



We are told by Strabo that the Ferret was 

 brought into Spain from Africa, and it is sup- 

 posed that this was done in order to free that 

 country from the vast number of Rabbets with 

 which it was overrun; and from Spain it M'as gra- 

 dually introduced into other European countries. 

 The Ferret is an animal of irascible nature, and, 

 when irritated, his odour, which is not at all times 

 disagreeable, becomes far more so than usual. The 



