$6 THE ERMIN. 



Jiarly admired. In the north of Europe, and Siberia, 

 their skins make a valuable article of trade ; and thej 

 are either shot with blunted arrows, or taken in traps. 

 The ermin is sometimes found white in Great Bri- 

 tain, and is then called the white weasel ; but the fur 

 is not considered of the least value, as it possesses none 

 of those qualities for which, in colder climates, it is so 

 deservedly admired. 



THE FERRET. 



This animal exceeds the weasel about four inches 

 in length, but resembles it in form and the shortness 

 of its tail ; it is said to have been originally brought 

 from Africa into Spain, in consequence of that coun- 

 try abounding so much in rabbits, to which the ferret 

 is a determined foe. 



As this little creature is a native of the torrid zone, 

 it requires to be kept warm in a more rigorous clime. 

 The chief purpose for which the ferret is used, is to 

 hunt in warrens where rabbits abound, and to drive 

 them out of those secure hiding-places, where they 

 are completely concealed : for this purpose the ani- 

 mal is muzzled, or its natural fondness for killing and 

 sucking the blood of the rabbit would induce it to re- 

 main at the bottom of the hole, and lead a rapacious 

 solitary life, till the severity of the weather closed its 

 doom ; for such an instinctive enmity have they to 

 the race, that if a dead rabbit is presented to a very 

 young ferret, who had never beheld the species be- 

 fore, it flies upon it with the greatest fury, and in- 

 stantly endeavours to suck its blood. 



