678 



NATURAL HISTORY 



them, and yet they must be captured before one can trap successfully in 

 their region ; for they will tear the traps to pieces as fast as the trapper 

 can build them. 



The wolverine is but a sub-plantigrade ; the remaining carnivores, even 

 those of the bear series, walk upon the tip of the toes. Of these forms the 

 weasel and the stoat, or ermine, are well known — small, long-bodied forms, 

 common t to both Europe and America, and which turn nearly or completely 

 white in winter in the more northern portions of their range. They are 

 both savage, bloodthirsty animals, with a peculiar ( snaky ' appearance, 

 which renders them far from attractive. The stoat is the worst of the 



Fig. 521.— Mink {Putorius lutreola). 



two from this point of view. It is also the stronger and tougher. It 

 destroys for the simple pleasure of taking life. In the hen-coop it will 

 destroy every inmate in a night ; in a rabbit-warren it follows one rabbit 

 after another, killing many, but never leaving the pursuit of one to take 

 up that of another until the first lias been pierced with those sharp teeth. 

 Still, this very habit of destructiveness makes both the weasel and the 

 ermine the farmer's friends. When they get into a barn, they kill off the 

 rats and mice, while in the field they make sad havoc with the field-mice 

 and moles. 



The ferret is a native of Africa which lias been introduced as a ratter 

 into almost all parts of the world. It is now scarcely known outside of 

 domestication; but no matter how tame it may be, it is always a stupid 



