104 THE STOAT. 



is most destructive in its Dature, killing many more animals than it can 

 devour, simply for the mere pleasure of killing. It is curious to notice 

 how the savage mind, whether it belongs to man or beast, actually revels 

 in destruction, is maddened to absolute frenzy by the sight of blood, 

 and is urged by a kind of fiery delirium to kill and to pour out the 

 vital fluid. Soldiers in the heat of action have often declared that 

 everything which they saw was charged with a blood-red hue, but that 

 the details of the conflict had entirely passed from their minds. A sin- 

 gle Weasel, urged by some such destructive spirit, has been known to 

 make its way into a cage full of freshly-caught song-birds, and to de- 

 stroy every single bird. The little assassin was discovered lying quite 

 at its ease in a corner of the cage, surrounded with the dead bodies of 

 its victims. 



To persons who have had but little experience in the habits of wild 

 animals, it is generally a matter of some surprise that the celebrated 

 Ermine fur, which is in such general favor, should be produced by one 

 of those very animals which we are popularly accustomed to rank among 

 " vermin," and to exterminate in every possible way. Yet so it is. 

 The highly-prized Ermine and the much-detested Stoat are, in fact, 

 one and the same animal, the difference in the color of their coats be- 

 ing caused solely by the larger or smaller proportion of heat to which 

 they have been subjected. 



In the summer-time, the fur of the Stoat — by which name the an- 

 imal will be designated, whether it be wearing its winter or summer 



dress — is not unlike 

 that of the weasel, al- 

 though the dark parts 

 of the fur are not so 

 ruddy or the light por^ 

 Srp-5 tions of so pure a white 

 as in that animal. The 

 toes and the edges of 

 the ears are also white. 

 ^ TiiK Stoat ok Krmine (Winter Dress). The change of color 



which takes place during the colder months of the year is now as- 

 certained, with tolerable accuracy, to be caused by an actual whitening 

 of the fur, and not by the gradual substitution of white for dark hairs, 

 as was for some time 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, especially 

 upon the under portions, while the slightly bushy tip of the tail retains 

 its original black tinting, and presents a singular contrast to the remain- 

 der of the fur. In these comparatively temperate latitudes, the Stoat 

 is never sufficiently blanched to render its fur of any commercial value. 



