MARTS AND MART HUNTING 



the stock of martens, until to-day they only 

 inhabit the wildest and most out-of-the-way 

 parts of the country. 



An old dalesman who lives in a part of the fell 

 country where marts are still to be found assures 

 the writer that he can remember the time when 

 marts were regularly responsible for lamb worry- 

 ing in spring. His statement is upheld by other 

 old farmers and shepherds. A marten is cer- 

 tainly powerful enough to kill a lamb, and there 

 seems no reason to doubt the stories one hears 

 concerning the animal's evil-doing in this respect. 

 In Thompson's " Mammals of Ireland" a case 

 is quoted where in 185 1 no fewer than twenty-one 

 lambs were killed by a pair of martens in a couple 

 of nights. Full-grown sheep have also been re- 

 ported as killed by martens from time to time. 

 When seizing a lamb or a hare, the marten's 

 point of attack is behind the shoulder. From 

 the hole thus made it sucks the blood. A polecat 

 on the other hand, kills a rabbit by biting it 

 across the eyes, while the stoat and weasel seize 

 their victim behind the ear. The marten is 

 easily trapped, but frequently dies, even it in 

 no way injured by the trap. Other animals 

 of the same family resign themselves to the 

 inevitable in like manner. When angry or 

 excited the marten growls, chatters, and hisses. 



The Greeks and Romans domesticated the 

 beech marten and used it as we do the cat to rid 

 their houses of rats and mice. This was before 

 the domestic cat was universally known. The 

 pine marten was hunted in the same way as the 

 foumart, and though the drag afforded the chief 

 sport, a " sweet mart" could stand up before 

 hounds for some time in rough ground. It is 

 a more active beast than the polecat, and can 



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