236 NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE FERRET. 



IT has been doubted by some whether or not tire 

 ferret and the pole-cat were animals of two different 

 species. Perhaps, the resemblance there sometimes 

 is in the colour of their hair first gave rise to this 

 doubt : the pole-cat, nevertheless, a native of temper- 

 ate climates, is an animal wild like the martin ; where- 

 as the ferret, originally an inhabitant of hot countries, 

 cannot exist in France, unless as a domestic animal, 

 The ferret also, and not the pole-cat, is made choice 

 of to drive the rabbits from their burrows, chiefly be- 

 cause it is more easily tamed. The ferret has a long- 

 er and thinner body, a narrower head, and a sharper 

 snout than the pole-cat. It has not the same saga- 

 city in providing for its subsistence ; it cannot exist, 

 at least in our regions, without the care of man, nor 

 have such of the species as have been lost in the bur- 

 rows of rabbits been ever known to multiply in the 

 country ; but have, on the contrary, perished to all 

 appearance by the severity of the winter. 



This animal is an enemy to the rabbit. If even a 

 dead one is presented to a young ferret which had ne- 

 ver seen one before, it springs at it, and tears it with 

 fury: if it be a living one, it seizes it by the neck and 

 nose, and instantly begins to suck its blood. When 

 the ferret is let loose into the burrows of the rabbits, 

 it is necessary to muzzle him, that he may not kill 

 them, but only make them to run out, and thereby 

 fall into the net laid for them at the entry. If he is 

 allowed to go unmuzzled, there is a risque of loosing 

 him, because after having sucked the blood of the rab- 

 bit, he will fall asleep. Besides, the smoke which is 

 raised at the mouth of the burrrow does not always 



