THE FERRET. 333 



of the whitish kind, have their eyes red, as is almost general 

 with all animals entirely of that color. But its principal dis- 

 tinction from the Weasel, is the length of hair on its tail, which 

 is much longer in the Ferret than in the Weasel. Words will 

 not well express the other distinctions ; and what might take 

 up a page in dull discrimination, a single glance of the eye, 

 when the animals themselves are presented, can discover. 



As this animal is a native of the torrid zone, so it cannot bear 

 the rigors of our climate without care and shelter ; and it gen- 

 erally repays the trouble of its keeping, by its great agility in 

 the warren. It is naturally such an enemy of the rabbit kind, 

 that if a dead rabbit be presented to a young Ferret, although 

 it has never seen one before, it instantly attacks and bites it 

 with an appearance of rapacity. If the rabbit be living, the 

 Ferret is still more eager, seizes it by the neck, winds itself 

 round it, and continues to suck its blood, till it be satiated. 



Their chief use in warrens is to enter the holes, and drive 

 the rabbits into the nets that are prepared for them at the 

 mouth. For this purpose, the Ferret is muzzled ; otherwise, 

 instead of driving out the rabbit, it would content itself with 

 killing and sucking its blood at the bottom of the hole ; but, by 

 this contrivance, being rendered unable to seize its prey, the 

 rabbit escapes from its claws, and instantly makes to the mouth 

 of the hole with such precipitation, that it is inextricably en- 

 tangled in the net, placed there for its reception. It often 

 happens, however, that the Ferret disengages itself of its muz- 

 zle, and then it is most commonly lost, unless it be dug out ; for, 

 finding all its wants satisfied in the warren, it never thinks of 

 returning to the owner, but continues to lead a rapacious soli- 

 tary life while the summer continues, and dies with the cold of 

 the winter. In order to bring the Ferret from his hole, the owners 

 often burn straw and other substances at the mouth ; they 

 also beat above to terrify it ; but this does not always succeed ; 

 for as there are often several issues to each hole, the Ferret is 

 affected neither by the noise nor the smoke, but continues 

 secure at the bottom, sleeping the greatest part of the time, 

 and waking only to satisfy the calls of hunger. 



