166 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



miss would often be the result and the fleeing weasel 

 would escape. 



There are those who believe that the black tip to the 

 weasels tail in the summer coat also has its advantages, 

 and these redound to the young; for by its aid they can 

 follow their mother better as she rapidly passes through 

 the mixed undergrowth of the weasel's haunts, especially 



SUCH SCENES AS WE HAVE HERE STILL EXIST CLOSE TO THE 

 NATIONAL CAPITAL. 



Fig. 6. To meet with fresh weasel tracks on this snow should not surprise 

 one, for the section is plenty wild enough for them, and ttiere is no end of 

 their food to be met with in such localities. 



where it is composed of a great variety of plants, bram- 

 bles, grasses, and the like, under which conditions a 

 black spot to constantly fix the attention would, in this 

 case be of great assistance. 



When seen on any surface, as snow or soft mud, the 

 footprints of a weasel are characteristic and easily recog- 

 nized. It progresses by bounding leaps, clearing inter- 

 vals to suit its purpose and convenience. In landing, the 

 hind feet come nearly squarely into the tracks made by 

 the front pair. Thus we have the little impressions it 

 makes in pairs, side by side, and rather close together, 

 each track being produced by the imprint of the fore 

 foot pressed down by the hind foot following it on the 

 same side. The ordinary leap of the animal rarely ex- 

 ceeds a foot and a half ; but if badly frightened it can 

 clear ten or a dozen feet at a bound, landing with great 

 certainty in the very spot it desires to reach. 



There is another notable fact about weasels rarely de- 

 scribed by naturalists and not generally known; here is 

 an instance of it. On one occasion the writer was in his 

 barn on a bright, sunny morning, when a fine male New 



York weasel ran across the floor. He ran up on some 

 barrels of grain, and out on a heavy oak crossbeam, in 

 front of one of the horse stalls. Being close to him, he 

 had no means whatever of escaping beyond jumping over 

 the writer's head, or, in the other direction, onto the 

 horse. Having the threshing-end of a heavy oak flail 

 in one hand, the writer, partly in fun, partly in earnest, 

 with careless aim struck a blow at him. The blow was 

 a miss, and the end of the flail hit the beam a fraction 

 of an inch below where he had quietly stood. He dis- 

 appeared like a puff of smoke. During subsequent years 

 and in substantiation of later observations, the writer 

 learned that this was quite a trick or the weasel's. Others 

 have noticed it, as for example Stone and Cram, who say 

 in their "American Animals" that, "though bold and 

 fearless, they have the power of vanishing instantly, and 

 the slightest alarm sends them to cover. I have seen 

 one standing within reach of my hand in the sunshine 

 c n the exposed root of a tree, and while I was staring 



UPPER HEAD, THE BRIDLED WEASEL; THE LOWER ONE IS THE 

 BLACKFOOTED FERRET 



Fig. 7. These are typical members of the weasel group in this country, and 

 were originally drawn by Mr. Ernest Thompson Sston. Pugnacity r.nd 

 ferocity is seen in every feature of either of these heads. 



at it, it vanished like the flame of a candle blown out, 

 without leaving me the slightest clue as to the direction 

 it had taken. All the weasels I have ever seen, either in 

 the woods or open meadows, disappeared in a similar 

 manner." 



Just how well off the American museums are today 

 for specimens of the black-footed ferret, I am not pre- 



